Dangers from a Bygone Era
This piece from LittleBadWolf back in September of 2021, is also the compliment one of my rare short stories that is completely stand-alone, unconnected to anything else in my writing portfolio.
And because LittleBadWolf was so proud of their work detailing Enigma’s outfit, they included another version without the cape, as shown below.
Sword in hand, body angled to reduce forward-facing body mass, Enigma took in the scene around him. Everyone was familiar with the horrors that visited Crossroads in the times of the great Planeswalker wars. Desolate woodlands like this, trees withered and rotten, that perished before they were able to replenish their reserves of aether, were a testament to the toll those ancient conflicts took on the world at large.
Fascinating as that was, that was neither the mind mage’s field of study nor his interest. What immediately drew his attention were the slash marks across the shrubs and vines, clearly carving out a path deeper into the woodlands. According to the reports, strange noises and lights had been emanating from the old forest. Locals had tried looking into it on their own, but haven’t been seen nor heard from in days. Thus, the renowned Detective-Professor was dispatched to find the missing townsfolk, to uncover the cause of the mysterious phenomenon that drew such interest.
Following the trail, Enigma pursued the missing villagers until he came across a red smear on a nearby tree. Though it had dried, the lingering scent of iron told him all it needed to. Taking a breath, he closed his eyes and began to focus more intently on his powers, picking up and locking onto nearby mental activity. While he was too far away to read them more clearly, at least he had a waypoint to work off of.
As he proceeded towards the source, he could begin to discern that there were two different signals, accounting for both of the missing villagers, in roughly the same position. A little closer and he could start to feel their emotional distress.
They had found the cause for the odd occurrence, and it was barring them from the way back.
By the time he arrived at the scene, Enigma had read enough from the missing people’s minds that the situation was clear. And yet, there’s always a difference between reading someone else’s perception and seeing the same picture with one’s own eyes.
Before him stood the ruins of an ancient temple, from ages past when Planeswalkers once waged war upon this land. Such edifice was common enough, their godlike powers inspiring both awe in their subjects and vanity in their minds in equal measure. Either would justify this monument to ostentation, but considering the circumstances, there was likely much more at play.
When investigating the lights and sounds, the villagers had tracked them on their own to this same location. Upon their entrance, to the facility, they were trapped by its guardian: A fearsome mechanical monstrosity. A rotund metallic body rested on twin treads, providing a sturdy and mobile base for the creature. Flanking each side were 4 mechanical arms, each segmented by three joints for increased flexibility, with blades adorning end the uppermost arms and claws on the lowermost appendages. More troubling to the psionicist was the circular opening in its chest, possibly a projectile weapon, but it was difficult to say for certain.
Images flashed in Enigma’s mind. One of the youths, a dragonkin, had attempted to escape before the old war machine barred her advances, swiping at her with its bladed arms. It appeared to cease movement when she retreated back into the temple and for the past few days she and her human ally have been surviving on the emergency rations they brought with them just in case, unable to safely vacate the area.
Focusing his powers, the mage’s eyes began to shine with a bright
cerulean aura. The lack of immediate danger meant he had time to plan,
and to do so the wolfkin required information. Without moving his lips,
the temple’s entrance to far for sound to travel, his voice nonetheless rang clearly to the captives.
“Hello. Can you all hear me?” Raising their heads, one of them called out to the mysterious voice.
“What- Who’s there?” The voice rang out once more.
“They call me Enigma, from the Magistrum. You’ve probably heard of me. I’ve been sent to find you both and bring you back home.”
Peering through the eyes of the human, the telepath could both see and feel the couple let out a collective breath neither of them realized they were holding, huddled together in a far corner of a musty chamber lit only by a lone aetherically-fueled lantern and what scant rays could shine their way inside from the entrance passed the mechanized warden.
“The detective?”
“The very same.”
“How? We’re trapped.”
From the outside, Enigma was still observing, taking in the information from his own senses and those of his newfound charges. He could feel the dull soreness emanating off the human’s shoulders, the subtle itch of the blood pressed again the dressing that sealed the wound. The dragonkin cursed herself silently for the way her recklessness with the machete caused the injury while hacking away at the shrubbery along the road, but she was also grateful the wound was superficial despite the bleeding.
With his own eyes, the mind mage could see the guardian stand vigil over the entrance, taking in the humming of the core granting it motion. Casting visual and auditory illusions, he cursed under his breath as the artifact remain unmoved. As he suspected, his own powers had no effect on atavistic antiquities relying on subroutines over instinct or rational thought. This was a time for old-fashioned tactical thinking.
“I need to study this machine before I can do anything. In the meantime, don’t come out. You seem to be safe there.”
“We figured that out already.”
Taking a breath to steady his nerves, Enigma gripped his blade and began to make a slow and steady advance, knowing that there was only so much he could do from his vantage point without illusion magic. The seconds felt like minutes as one foot slowly positioned itself in front of the other, until at once the machine whirred to life. Pivoting to face the encroaching wolfkin, its treads stormed after its newly acquired quarry.
Closing in on him, Enigma could only fall back on the skills he had acquired from Edmund’s training sessions, deflecting as much as he could. Unfortunately, no ordinary wolfkin could hope to completely absorb the force of such a blow, and he was sent tumbling backward, landing on his rear end.
As quickly as the construct had attacked the mind mage, it had begun to return to its post. Tilting his head, the wheel began to turn for Enigma. Dusting himself off and standing back up, he placed his foot once forward once more, prompting the machine to respond again. Only this time, he brought his foot back out before it could gain any ground. Almost in direct response, it turned back to the entrance.
Psychically, he reconnected to the missing women. “I have a plan.”
Near the rear of the temple, Enigma stood just outside of the perimeter. At this point, he had tested and retested his hypothesis enough that he was certain this would work.
“For this to work, I need the two of you to be ready to run as fast as you can the moment I give the signal. Can you do that?”
“Yeah. We’re both just ready to get out of here.”
“Good. Get as close to the entrance as you can and wait for my signal.” As he finished, sensing the two of them move, he entered the perimeter of the temple grounds.
He could hear the treads before they entered his line of sight, encircling the temple in pursuit. Moments passed, and just as it was getting close…
“Now. Run, as fast as you can.”
The dragonkin and the human bolted. Fortunately for them, their captor had already focused all of its attention on a new target, and they were able to vacate the area safely. Confirming their escape, the mind mage himself quietly stepped out of his opponent’s field of operations. With no targets remaining, it returned to its vigil at the temple gate.
Circling around, Enigma finally introduced himself to the two before heading they all returned together.
“So what happens now?” The human could barely contain her curiosity. Having finally made it back to the township, the mind mage thought it best to sit down for a meal at the tavern, so they could all start to recover from their ordeal.
“Now, I send word to dispatch some of our warriors, machinists, and archeologists to investigate further and contain the situation. For now, stay away from that temple. I’ll hang around town to make sure everyone is safe until backup arrives.” As he spoke, Enigma was already penning a missive in his notebook, waiting for the meal he had ordered for the three of them.
“Sure you don’t want our folks to pay for this? You did save us both.” This time it was the dragonkin’s turn.
“The Magistrum has already paid my fee. Besides, you both could use a good meal after lasting three days on field rations, and I get reimbursed for my business expenses.”
“Whatever you say.” They both shrugged their shoulders.
When the meal had concluded, Enigma had risen from the table. “Thank you, Raven and Stephanie, for this lovely evening. I hope you both have a long and happy life together.” Smiling softly at the two ladies, he spoke to the receptionist at the front desk in order to confirm his room number, handing off the dispatch before retiring for the night. It was only moments later when the two of them made their realization.
“How did he know we were dating?” Stephanie the dragonkin simply sat dumbfounded as the words escaped her lips.
“Screw that. How did he know our names!?” Raven turned to her partner. By the time either of them had thought to ask, Enigma had already locked the door to his room, exhaustion from a long day’s work quickly drifting him into a peaceful sleep.
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