supports would give way, letting in millions of tons of reservoir. After that the fun would begin.
Leaning over, I dug my fingers through the grass and into the soil, rumbling the Language of Earth. The odor of cut grass slid into my nose as easily as my fingers slipped into the ground. Rumble, rumble the words burst forth, demanding, cajoling.
Under my feet, under my fingers, the elemental answered and did what I asked, humping and bumping the earth beneath me into a hill that grew and grew and grew. Soon I stood twenty feet atop an impressive berm that allowed me a clear view of the reservoir. The best seat in the house.
WHUMP!
Okay, I felt that right down to the roots of my teeth. The surface of the reservoir seemed to slump inwards before bulging up and rippling outwards from the middle in a shockwave that carried to the top of the berm and beyond, nearly hurling me off my feet.
Seconds later an explosion of water and steam erupted from the epicenter of the disturbance, shooting straight up, over a hundred feet into the evening air, carrying with it the faint tang of hot metal. The reaction was far greater than I had thought.
Quickly I whistled the Language of Air, bringing a bevy of sprites to my aid. “Please, brothers!” I implored. “Let me join you in the sky!”
“You are funny, Magus, wanting to join Air!” they laughed in return. “Why should we not drop you?”
Droplets began to fall and I could see an enormous swell surge out from the reservoir’s center. It would be on me in moments. “By the true name of Air, which is (unpronounceable) , take me into your realm!” I commanded. “Now!”
With a breathy shriek the sprites lifted me none too gently into the sky, nearly dislocating my shoulders in the process; however, I just set my mouth in a snarl and braced myself as best I could.
Just in time. A wave slammed hard into the berm, shooting a gush of water into the air high enough to ruin my $650 Barker Blacks.
From my vantage point, I saw a swirling vortex in the heart of the water, steaming and churning, bubbling and seething with savage energies. The burbly cries of Water came to me faintly as the sprites whisked me away toward the country club and soon I flew out of sight, leaving the hissing, boiling reservoir behind me.
Usually Air sprites are about as reliable as hummingbirds on heroin, but these particular elementals managed to land me in the parking lot of the country club without dropping me from too far up. I did twist my ankle when I landed.
“Well thank you very much , assholes,” I cursed under my breath. Laughing merrily, the sprites fled into the sky.
Later, after a couple of shots of Glenfiddich and a Healing for my ankle, I called Julian.
“I am sorry sir, but the entire complex is a loss,” I reported, fingering the molecular knife in my pocket. “We were under attack and I had to initiate the self-destruct protocol.”
“Everything is lost, then?” A dangerous edge crept into his voice. “All the research, all that money sunk into that laboratory is wasted ?” His soft words were as harsh as a scream.
“Not a total loss,” I soothed, blinking rapidly as sweat poured into my eyes. “I have the Crystal Drive. The data of all the projects we were working on are stored on it, not to mention all the reverse-engineering specs for the Drive itself.”
“So what, Olivier? It is just one invention out of many.”
“So what? Julian, the Drive is revolutionary ! It alone is worth tens of billions of dollars! Not to mention the tech from the Drive will help us build computers generations ahead of the competition. With this, we give ourselves the edge over the Liar’s minions. A big edge. No computer system on the planet will be able to withstand us.” Okay, a stretch. It would take years for us to develop the technology offered by the Crystal Drive, but he did not know that … yet.
When he spoke next, his tone was milder, but no less deadly. “Are you sure,
Leaning over, I dug my fingers through the grass and into the soil, rumbling the Language of Earth. The odor of cut grass slid into my nose as easily as my fingers slipped into the ground. Rumble, rumble the words burst forth, demanding, cajoling.
Under my feet, under my fingers, the elemental answered and did what I asked, humping and bumping the earth beneath me into a hill that grew and grew and grew. Soon I stood twenty feet atop an impressive berm that allowed me a clear view of the reservoir. The best seat in the house.
WHUMP!
Okay, I felt that right down to the roots of my teeth. The surface of the reservoir seemed to slump inwards before bulging up and rippling outwards from the middle in a shockwave that carried to the top of the berm and beyond, nearly hurling me off my feet.
Seconds later an explosion of water and steam erupted from the epicenter of the disturbance, shooting straight up, over a hundred feet into the evening air, carrying with it the faint tang of hot metal. The reaction was far greater than I had thought.
Quickly I whistled the Language of Air, bringing a bevy of sprites to my aid. “Please, brothers!” I implored. “Let me join you in the sky!”
“You are funny, Magus, wanting to join Air!” they laughed in return. “Why should we not drop you?”
Droplets began to fall and I could see an enormous swell surge out from the reservoir’s center. It would be on me in moments. “By the true name of Air, which is (unpronounceable) , take me into your realm!” I commanded. “Now!”
With a breathy shriek the sprites lifted me none too gently into the sky, nearly dislocating my shoulders in the process; however, I just set my mouth in a snarl and braced myself as best I could.
Just in time. A wave slammed hard into the berm, shooting a gush of water into the air high enough to ruin my $650 Barker Blacks.
From my vantage point, I saw a swirling vortex in the heart of the water, steaming and churning, bubbling and seething with savage energies. The burbly cries of Water came to me faintly as the sprites whisked me away toward the country club and soon I flew out of sight, leaving the hissing, boiling reservoir behind me.
Usually Air sprites are about as reliable as hummingbirds on heroin, but these particular elementals managed to land me in the parking lot of the country club without dropping me from too far up. I did twist my ankle when I landed.
“Well thank you very much , assholes,” I cursed under my breath. Laughing merrily, the sprites fled into the sky.
Later, after a couple of shots of Glenfiddich and a Healing for my ankle, I called Julian.
“I am sorry sir, but the entire complex is a loss,” I reported, fingering the molecular knife in my pocket. “We were under attack and I had to initiate the self-destruct protocol.”
“Everything is lost, then?” A dangerous edge crept into his voice. “All the research, all that money sunk into that laboratory is wasted ?” His soft words were as harsh as a scream.
“Not a total loss,” I soothed, blinking rapidly as sweat poured into my eyes. “I have the Crystal Drive. The data of all the projects we were working on are stored on it, not to mention all the reverse-engineering specs for the Drive itself.”
“So what, Olivier? It is just one invention out of many.”
“So what? Julian, the Drive is revolutionary ! It alone is worth tens of billions of dollars! Not to mention the tech from the Drive will help us build computers generations ahead of the competition. With this, we give ourselves the edge over the Liar’s minions. A big edge. No computer system on the planet will be able to withstand us.” Okay, a stretch. It would take years for us to develop the technology offered by the Crystal Drive, but he did not know that … yet.
When he spoke next, his tone was milder, but no less deadly. “Are you sure,
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