Here we go


Beta: College Fool

Cover Art: Dishwasher1910

Book 9: Chapter 14


"You want to weave Ironwood into the walls of the city?"

"That's right, your majesty."

Archmage Ironwood knelt respectfully. He didn't have to, being as close to a King as Atlas had, and he didn't kneel as deeply as I did beside him, still in my borrowed Royal Guard armour, which no one had asked me to return.

The King, Galan, hummed loudly, leaning back with Saren stood beside him. The Assassin looked weathered and was limping, indication he'd been busy. He managed a subtle nod my way, a simple greeting between two people playing assistant to those far more powerful. We were only there because we were expected to flank our respective superiors.

"This proposal was made before and quickly shelved. Tell me, what has changed?"

"Jaune here." Ironwood indicated me. "We have discovered that he can interact with my Ironwood to cause it to not only grow, but to be impervious to Salem's attacks. Before, there was always the risk it would be of no use as she would strike it down. And the expenditure of mana on my side would have drained me."

"You are at the centre of much, Jaune Arc. First Mistral, then the Greycloaks and now this."

I swallowed. Put like that it really did sound bad. "I'm just a Blacksmith, your majesty."

"And a Swordmaster."

"A master of making swords. That is what the Class means."

"Hm. Not a deviation, then. A promotion? To a Prestige Class of sorts."

"That's what we think."

One with a Mage focus, but which was still – in a strange way – a Blacksmith Class. It straddled the lines, what with the names of the Skills, but even those affected armour and weapons instead of people. I could cut through enchantments, shatter weapons and invalidate Runes. All useful tool for a Blacksmith.

"The how your Class changed remains a mystery," the King said. "Classes are granted when we are born, yet you changed this." He sighed. "That is not important now. Perhaps craftsmen have ever been the saviours of our Kingdom. Without weapons we cannot fight. Without tools we cannot farm, cut lumber or build houses. Archmage, will you be able to reinforce the walls while combat is taking place?"

"It shouldn't make too much difference. The Ironwood will carve through what Grimm it must."

"Then do it. Focus first on the western walls where Salem resides. Those will be most at risk."

Ironwood stood. "Thank you, your majesty. We'll see it done."

/-/

"Is this really a good idea?" I asked as Ironwood, Winter and I approached the wall, right at the breach where the Constructs and Penny held off the Grimm. "What if it damages the walls? It's one thing to make a new gate but building it into the walls might cause problems."

"The walls are a false security at best anyway," Ironwood said. "If Salem can bring them down, we are not nearly as safe as we believe. Regardless, we will begin here with the existing breach. If we can create a new wall, the city's defences will be strengthened."

That, I had less problems with. Sealing the breach would be like closing the gate. There would be some damage to the walls where the Ironwood needed to anchor itself, but that would be a small price to pay to close the gap. We could also work without too much concern for the Constructs themselves, since they weren't living.

Ironwood had called Penny out of the melee to guard them. The Construct stood nearby with a pleasant smile that belied the blood and dirt covering her. She'd been fighting for days without rest. Above her head, her name was displayed, along with her Class. Construct.

Classes are given when someone is born. How does Penny have a Class if she was never born?

Had the situation been better he might have asked. Maybe her birth was when Ironwood first created her. She certainly called him father enough.

"I will create the Ironwood from the roots I have beneath the city. I can create a mass of it but shaping the material into a wall quickly is beyond me." It had taken him a month and a half to build the CCT, so I didn't doubt that.

"I'll handle the shaping," I said. "I just need enough material to work with."

"That won't be a problem." The Archmage stepped forward, and the Soldiers stood behind the Constructs parted, giving way for their small group. "Penny, Winter, defend us as we work. I doubt any Grimm will breach the Constructs, but I would not put it past Salem to try and strike at us now. Jaune, fret not for the Constructs outside the walls. The Mages piloting them feel no discomfort."

Ironwood waited for us to signal our agreement before he pushed his staff forward and closed his eyes. The light flashed between his lids, shining out a thin slit of colour as his power seeped into the ground. I couldn't feel or sense that, but I did feel the ground shake. More prepared for it, I hunkered down and waited, eyes on the flat expanse of ground between us and the breach.

The flagstones bulged upward long before it appeared. The dirt and soil were pushed up, erupting like a geyser as the long and thick silvery root broke the surface. The Soldiers gasped and murmured in amazement, something I reflected. It was so much more than what I could do. I fed the Ironwood and it grew on its own, but this – it was like he had control over life and death itself. The Ironwood was built out of nothing more than his mind and his power. It was truly incredible. Not just what he achieved but what Atlas had done to incorporate it into their way of life.

The root coiled its way toward the breach. As he'd warned, it was sluggish and clumsy – inelegantly making its way forward but without any real sense of purpose. The bends were crooked and the roots path unnatural. Ironwood was forcing it into shape rather then letting it grow. The root slithered toward the wall and then reared up, forming a central pillar.

"Jaune, now!"

I stepped forward with Penny flanking me protectively. My hands touched the root and I let out a breath, eyes flashing blue as my hands burned hot, pouring fire into the root.

A shadow washed over me suddenly, followed by two more that came and went immediately.

"Don't stop!" Ironwood yelled, turning back with wide eyes, tracking the path of the three giant Nevermore that had flown overhead. Their mighty wings beat as they passed over our position and swept further over the city – flying high and not at all trying to dive down on the people. "Someone track them! Jaune, don't stop until the breach is sealed."

Right. My heart racing, I turned back to the Ironwood and focused my attention on it. The momentary inattention had caused several boughs and branches to sprout out at odd angles, some even reaching back toward us. I urged those back, spreading the branches out left and right from the central pillar to form something was not quite a wall and more a fence or gate. There wasn't enough to make a solid wall the thickness of the current walls of Vale, but that was fine. Treelike limbs of metal stronger than steel would suffice.

The complicated was the top. I wasn't sure how to make a flat surface for the defenders to fight on, and if I didn't then the Grimm would just pile over like they always had. I could will the vines to grow around that area, but those weren't flat by any means. The surface would be bumpy and uneven, sure to trip and kill anyone who tried to fight on it. Maybe the Mages can station more people here and just clear the lip with spellfire. If they poured it into the Ironwood, it should conduct it to the Grimm outside.

While the wall built itself to fit the breach, the Constructs inside stepped back, making room and avoiding being caught by the vines. One nearby stumbled suddenly and fell, collapsing in a heap. Another did the same, then a third and a fourth. More fell, sprawling out on the flagstones with their limbs bent at unusual angles. Outside the walls, the same was happening en masse.

"What's happening?" Ironwood asked out loud. "Is the Ironwood interfering with them?"

It was possible. I was pumping heat into the root and the Ironwood was reacting and growing, so maybe the same was happening to the Constructs nearby. If their joints suddenly grew vines and branches, they might lock up and make them impossible to pilot.

I glanced to the side. Penny was fine, and she was much closer to me.

One of the fallen Constructs shuddered and stood, using a sword arm to push itself up. A few others followed, shaking their limbs loose and righting themselves. They turned their blank faces left and right, taking in the scene once more.

"It must have been a momentary problem," Ironwood said. "They seem to be back under control now. Focus on securing the new wall to the existing-"

One of the Constructs lunged for me, sword swinging down.

I had a moment to gasp – and a fraction of a second to realise I couldn't pull away fast enough – before Penny was in front of me creating a huge two-handed sword out of green energy. She swept it in front of her, bisecting the Construct and hurling its two parts away. The others rushed in as well, but she leapt forward, twirling and turning her weapon into an ethereal hammer, which she brought down on two of them at once, crushing them and blasting the others aside. Without missing a beat, she turned it into twin blades and dashed left and right, cutting any Constructs down before they could get close.

"What!?" Archmage Ironwood slammed his staff down and conjured a fireball to blow one away from himself. "How!? Soldiers, stand ready! Jaune, finish that wall!"

Finish-? Now-!? The constructs on the other side! Shit! Looking ahead and through the fencelike wall I'd made, I could see the Constructs outside turn inward, attacking now the wall itself and trying to break through. The Grimm attacked them in kind, but there was no mistaking that the Constructs had turned against us. If I didn't seal the breach, they'd come through.

"Archmage!" Winter shrieked. "The CCT!"

Ironwood looked back, and together we saw three large black birdlike shapes gripping to the tall CCT in the distance, huge wings spread as they clung to its side, with one now roosting atop it.

"No." Ironwood said. "How did she know-?" He gritted his teeth. "Winter, to me. Jaune, you must stay and seal this breach. Penny, defend him with your life."

"Yes father."

"What about you!?" I howled, hands still on the Ironwood.

The Archmage already had a portal open. Winter rushed through it and Ironwood followed, neither answering me as they stepped through into the CCT. The portal winked out a moment later, leaving me and Penny behind.

"Shit!" I wanted to chase but couldn't leave the wall like this. "Penny, buy me time!"

"Of course, friend." Penny wielded a green spear under one arm and a sword in the other and didn't at all seemed burdened by concerns like co-ordination and focus. She dual-wielded them easily, using them as though she had a pair of eyes and a half of her brain dedicated to each weapon in kind. Such a display would have been impossible for a human.

The Soldiers weren't blind to the goings on. I found myself cordoned off by a ring of armoured figures who planted shields down, pushing spears over the top to form a thorny exterior. More closed in on the Constructs, not engaging but cutting them off and preventing them attacking the other defenders.

Salem saw the Ironwood being used here and knew we weren't at the CCT. That's where the Nevermore were going. Instead of attacking us, she travelled straight there.

Would it do anything if I purified the root? I tried, closing my eyes. "Purify Object."

My power rushed into it but the Nevermore remained on the tower. The Constructs continued fighting. Damn it. Whatever's happening, it's nothing to do with a spell of hers. I have to finish here and get back.

The wall was nearly complete. I'd anchored the vines into the neighbouring walls and now just had to fill in the spaces big enough for Grimm to fit through. I fed more fire into the root, urging it to grow big and strong. Leaves of metal and twigs flourished and intertwined, vines weaving together like thick coils of rope. I watched a Construct be caught in it and then form part of the wall, vines growing out his face where an eye would have been. The thing still lashed out with its one good arm, waving an axe-limb futilely.

It was done. I pulled away, feeling the last trickle of Exp that didn't quite grant me a level. Penny had just finished rounding up the last of the Constructs and pounding them to dust, while those outside wailed on the wall, in the process of being torn apart by the Grimm they steadfastly ignored. The wall along wouldn't stop the Grimm. They'd pour over – but that was a problem for someone else to solve. At least for now.

"Penny!" I yelled, already moving. "To the CCT. Quick!"

/-/

Beacon was in uproar when we arrived. Without portals it took time to make our way through the streets and I was panting when we did. The gates were still open but the unmistakeable sounds of combat from within the school reached me. For a second I dreaded an attack on the Guild Village, but it was impossible to miss the Archers, Mages and other Heroes attacking the three Nevermore atop the CCT. Those bit and snapped down, occasionally raining razor-sharp feathers down, but there were no Grimm in the grounds or attacking the students.

I watched in awe as purple chains sprung from the side of the school's tower, wrapping around one of the Nevermore and binding its wings to its side. The beast screeched up at the sky, the sound sharp and sudden like a high-pitched bark. Its black feathers ruffled and vibrated, making a whirring sound all of its own.

The chains tightened harshly, digging into flesh and dragging. The Nevermore was torn off the CCT's side and send crashing down into the side of the school, then released. It flapped its wings, carving great chunks of stone from the building, but couldn't find the room to glide or slow its fall. It hit the ground in an explosion of dirt and soil.

"Eyarghhhhh!" an armoured figure roared, jumping from a low balcony with a huge lance in hand. Peter Port, Cavalier, crashed down onto the Grimm's back and drove his lance deep. Other students rushed in, buoyed by his example and attacking the downed Nevermore while Glynda's chains reached out and snagged a second, fighting it in a battle of strength as it clung to the CCT's wall.

"Jaune!" Weiss and Pyrrha reached me at a sprint. Blake and Ren came with them, while I saw Yang, Nora and Ruby hurry toward the Nevermore. It was Weiss who spoke, voice strained. "Grimm attacked the CCT. They've not broken in yet but-"

"They have. The Constructs have turned on us."

"What-!? But the only way that would happen is if…" Weiss looked toward the entranceway of the tower. There were no guards there; the Sentinels that usually protected the entrance curiously absent. "Oh no."

"Father!" Penny cried, dashing ahead and into the tower.

The five of us rushed after her, passing by the students fighting the immediate threat. I couldn't fault them not knowing better – especially when the Mages and Sentinels within the CCT were supposed to be so much stronger than them.

Stronger, but vulnerable.

The CCT was a bloodbath. The metallic ramps leading up to the spiral balconies cutting around the inside perimeter of the tower dripped red, forming a pool on the bottom that our boots splashed into. Arms dangled over edges and several bodies were curled up on the floor, more hanging or slumped on the ramps themselves. Discarded weapons lay everywhere. I heard Penny's footsteps echo on metal above as the Construct charged tirelessly up the spiral ramp toward the top of the tower. I had to take a moment to catch my breath, and to get used to the nightmare scene before me.

"Oh my…" Weiss clapped a hand over her mouth and retched. The stench was as thick as the blood we waded through and reminded me immediately of Raven. It was just as bad – but it hadn't been a single person to do this.

"The Grimm must have come in on the Nevermore and used the confusion to sneak into the CCT," Ren said. "But what about the Mages inside? Why didn't they defend themselves?"

"Because they were helpless." I answered with a snarl, already picking my way through the blood and to the ramp. It was drier than the floor as I stepped up. "The Mages were piloting Constructs, which means they were experiencing life through those. They had no idea what was going on until it was too late."

Until the Constructs collapsed like puppets with their strings cut. I realised now that I'd witnessed the death of the Mages piloting them. Men and women cut down without even knowing what killed them. The Sentinels had done their best to defend their charges, but the blood and bodies spoke of their success.

On the ramp, boots were cut into the walls in which the Mages of the CCT lay to connect with the Ironwood and thus the Constructs. The first we came upon had its Mage still laid on the bed, atop a blanket and cushion. She looked as though she were resting, but for her pale eyes and blue lips – and the singular hole cut into her chest, directly over her heart. Her hands were linked beside it, telling me she'd died without even stirring. At the foot of her deathbed, an armoured man lay face down with his arm torn off and his chest torn asunder.

As the first and at the bottom of the ramp, he must have faced the onslaught alone – caught by surprise and suddenly forced to defend his Mage against a marauding army of Grimm pouring into the CCT. He hadn't stood a chance. None of them had.

"There's not a sound," Pyrrha said sadly. "No fighting. All the Mages are dead."

We were too late to save them. My fingers tightened on Crocea Mors and I stomped ahead, drawing the sword as the others flanked in behind. Dead Mages lay in their tombs, some in the process of waking up and reacting and one or two even dying on the pathways themselves, having been awoken by their Sentinels. They'd tried to stem the tide to no avail.

There were no Grimm; the monsters having long since dissolved in death. Judging from the wounds, they used piercing and slashing attacks. And they were quick. They almost had to be to overwhelm the Mages before they could react, wake up and portal out.

"What I don't understand is how some of the Constructs turned against us as Jaune says." Ren spoke with disgusting calm. I told myself it wasn't his fault, even if he walked by dead bodies without a care in the world. "Slaughtering the Mages is one thing; taking over the Constructs is another."

"The Grimm took control somehow," I said. "Be ready. Just because we're not being attacked doesn't mean they're not here. We might be mimicking the Grimm right now."

"Mimicking-?" Weiss gasped. "You mean to say they might be using the CCT as the Mages were?"

It was the only thing I could think of and I nodded. I picked my way up the next ramp, carefully checking each of the booths that had now turned into tombs. Dead Mage after Mage lay upon them, their Sentinels defeated before each. Not a one died without someone next to them; the Sentinels defending them unto death. It reminded me of Kaedin and Viktor, the Mage and Sentinel we'd been partnered with in Atlas. Though Viktor had been the one to die, Kaedin hadn't handled it well. There didn't seem any chance of that here. No survivors as far as I could see.

A booth ahead had its Mage flung out and draped over the edge of the railing, arms and head dangling over the side precariously. Weiss' eyes narrowed and she hurried forward, the rest of us rushing after in case she needed help. The Mage wasn't in his bed, but that didn't mean the bed was empty.

A black insect-like figure lay in it instead, head toward the back wall and pale blue light flickering around its bulbous head. Long forearms tipped with scythed blades lay crossed over its chest, each as long as my arm. It didn't react to our arrival. And it wasn't dead. It would have disappeared already if it was.

"It's using the CCT." Pyrrha said. "Controlling a Construct."

"I thought only Mages could interact with the Ironwood," Ren said.

"I thought so too. Maybe we were wrong. Or maybe Salem made these different to the others."

Made them Mages, she didn't say. We all heard it. Was it possible? I had no idea. Salem could make Grimm in whatever shape she apparently wanted, so who was to say she couldn't make them with the ability to use magic. Even if that wasn't the case, these could clearly use the CCT in a similar way.

So, this was what happened to the Constructs. The Grimm came in with the Nevermore, used them to infiltrate the tower and slaughtered the inhabitants. As each Mage died, a Grimm took its place, overtaking the Constructs and turning them on us. The other Grimm outside the walls hadn't known better, hence their continued attack on the creatures now working on their side.

Weiss stepped up onto the bed and drew Myrtenaster, taking it in two hands over the thing's chest. Pyrrha moved but I held a hand out to stop her.

"Die, you fiend!"

The rapier stabbed down, piercing through chitinous plate and gushing blackish blood onto the Mage's legs. The thing woke up immediately and hissed, lashing out with both claws. Weiss kicked one away and dragged her sword out, stabbing a second and third time to kill it, the third stab in the shoulder, pinning the other limb down so it couldn't reach her.

It hissed and chittered for a moment, twitching and writhing, before it went still and fell back. It began to dissolve into black mist a moment later.

"They appear to be weak individually," Ren said. "They must have attacked in a group."

"Or they're more formidable when not ambushed," Blake added. "We should kill all of them that we see. If they wake up and rum amok in Beacon, we'll be in trouble."

"I think we may have a problem there," I said, looking around and up the CCT, noticing all the bodies flung off the boots and laid on the floor. Clawed feet stood out from every booth and pale blue light flickered ominously. We were less than a quarter of the way up the tower and every booth was occupied. Hundreds of slumbering Grimm. Maybe even close to a thousand.

We couldn't kill them all quickly enough. Even if it took thirty seconds to kill one and cover the distance between it and the next, times that by a thousand and we were looking at just under ten hours of constant killing. Even if we split that in four and ignored fatigue, that was two to three hours' work. The Grimm would surely wake up in that time. The Constructs were being destroyed even now, so they'd wake up at any moment.

"Ironwood," I said, moving forward, upward. "We need to find the Archmage."

The others sensed my urgency, or maybe they'd realise the implications themselves. They rushed ahead, faster than me and not afraid to put that to good use. Blake was the quickest, pushing further and further ahead and a full floor above us when the first of the Grimm awoke.

I heard the splash of feet hitting blood above, then a rattling, hissing cry. I pumped my legs harder, hearing sounds of breathing as the Grimm on the same floor as me came out of the Constructs, cracking their limbs with clicking sounds.

"Yahh!" Blake yelled – and it was the angry tone that told me she was on the attack, not in pain. A black body was tossed off the causeway and down below, screeching the whole time. One ahead of us slid out of the booth and onto its feet, only to have its head carved off by Pyrrha's sword.

"Keep moving!" she yelled. "Don't stop for anything!"

To stop was to get bogged down. To get bogged down was to give the Grimm a chance to wake up properly and surround us, and that would be death. I hacked a confused and distracted Grimm down as it tried to clamber out its booth, then jumped over a dying one Ren left behind. Up another ramp, onto another floor, catching up with Blake as she slowed down to deal with two Grimm at once.

More and more were waking up. I was surprised it took them so long – but they must have been busy making sure every single Construct was destroyed. They'd been created for this purpose. Grimm made for the sole job of invalidating the work the Archmage had done. This was why Salem hadn't broken her way into the city. She wanted the Constructs out the way first. Damn it. We'd been such idiots. So confident in our work.

Three quarters of the way up our progress became slower and slower. Pyrrha and Blake worked side by side to carve a path forward while Ren and I covered the rear, Weiss casting spells upon the ground to leave it icy and trip the Grimm in pursuit. We'd been reduced to a snail's pace; every metre bought in blood. And more and more of the things were coming awake, both behind us and ahead.

"This isn't working." Ren said to me. "We need Weiss clearing the path ahead with her magic or we're going to be stuck. Look out!" The Monk pushed past me, catching a Grimm that had flung itself off a higher floor to attack our flank. He blocked the strike and pushed it back with both hands, dropping it into the abyss and down to the floor several feet metres below. "Isn't there something you can do?" he asked. "This whole tower is made of metal."

I sheathed Crocea Mors and dropped to my knees. I swept away some blood on the ground and slapped my palms down, trusting Ren and Weiss to buy me the time I needed. I don't want the Ironwood to grow. I can't make a wall big enough out of this little material.

There were other avenues. I Engraved a line in the pathway before me, less than a foot ahead of my hands. The groove was carved into it and I felt the Ironwood protest. "I'll give you fire," I promised it. "Work with me and I'll help you grow."

I couldn't tell if it heard or understood me, but it fought less as I Engraved and Engraved over and over again, carving the line thicker and thicker in my mind, cutting into the causeway like a Lumberjack cutting at a tree.

Soon enough it became weak. A Grimm leapt onto it and proved too much. The ground shook and snapped. The ramp fell, slumping down and hitting the floor beneath, crushing Grimm under it. Those still alive leapt up to try and reach us – and some came close. Even so, there was no path up to where we were. I watched one begin to scale the walls, using its long claws to grip on. It was slow going, however.

"Good work," Weiss said. "Pyrrha, Blake, move!"

The Assassin and Champion dodged to the left, pressing flat to the wall of the tower as an arctic gale tore along the path ahead. The freezing wind wasn't enough to kill or turn the Grimm to ice, but it worked wonders on the ground. Grimm slipped and skittered, falling and losing grip. Weiss' wind pushed them off the walkway entirely, dropping at least a hundred down the tower and clearing the path.

More were climbing up from below, scaling the walls like the first.

"Run!" Blake yelled. "Get to the top!"

/-/

The Grimm posed no threat with Weiss able to blow them away. Those that remained standing were cut down, and while the ones below continued to scale the walls, we were able to run around and up faster, keeping ahead of them, albeit at the expense of our stamina. The higher we got, the more I noticed the sound of fighting above. Loud explosions and the clang of steel, along with roars of outright fury.

The first person we came upon sat at the entrance to the final chamber, head fallen and blood staining her blouse. Winter's sabre lay in her lap, the blade stained black.

"Winter!" Weiss screamed, rushing forward and falling to her knees. "No! Not you! Not you as well!"

Dead. I didn't need to check her pulse to know it. Her chest didn't rise and the long tear down her front left nothing to the imagination. I pried Weiss' hands away from her and dragged her beyond, ignoring her sobs. If she stayed to grieve, she'd be killed. Blake, Ren and Pyrrha followed.

"Arghhh!" Penny screamed as she cartwheeled through the room, swinging a sword twice as long as she and cleaving through Grimm left and right. Every swing cut two or more down and dissolving bodies spoke of her work. More came, surrounding her on all sides and clawing at her body, tearing away chunks and exposing the green energy within.

"Pen-" My eyes bulged as I caught sight of a white figure slumped against the wall. "Ironwood!"

The Archmage looked up. His face was bloody, and an eye had been ripped from its socket. He gripped his staff tightly to his body, leaning bodily on it and sporting wounds across his chest and legs. "What are you doing here?" he hissed, falling to one knee as we reached him. I handed Weiss over to Pyrrha, and she had to hold on tight to stop a babbling Weiss running back to her sister.

My body trembled as I leaned down to try and pull Ironwood up. "We'll get you out," I promised him. "It'll be alright, sir."

"D-Don't be a fool," he rasped. "Winter is dead. I'm not much longer." A couch splattered red on my shoulder. "The Augurs," he said. "They must be destroyed lest she gain access to them. And the CCT itself. It cannot fall into her hands. I will not allow it."

The Augurs…? Of course. They had views over the entire city. If Salem had some way of seeing through the Grimm, she could use it to have a perfect view on everything at once. It would prove as valuable for her as it had for us. As for the CCT, the Grimm couldn't have a foothold in the middle of Beacon. It would be the beginning of the end, and that was without her figuring out how to animate the Constructs at the base of the tower.

"Blake," I snapped. "Destroy those orbs in the centre of the room."

"No!" Ironwood caught the Assassin's elbow before she could move. Weak as he was, it was only Blake stopping to listen that prevented her escape. "That will not be enough. They must be destroyed entirely. The whole tower must be. I…" He grunted and buckled against me. Warmth spread out from his side over mine. "I will do this. You must escape." He stabbed his staff forward and a portal flickered weakly to life. "Go."

"We will," I said. "And you're coming with us."

"No. I need to destroy the tower."

"Destroy it from outside!" I snapped, dragging him bodily toward it. "There's no point you dying here. We have Healers who can patch you up. Everything else can wait until later."

"Fool. There won't be a later if the CCT falls to her. This is bigger than me, though not bigger than you." Ironwood gripped my collar and pulled my face close to his. "You can control the Ironwood. It will live on through you. It must!"

He pushed, and I was blown back by a blast of magic. The others too. We slid away as Ironwood fell onto his knees once more. The floor under him rippled and bent, flexing under his power. The walls themselves moved inward. No, they weren't moving. They were growing. The Ironwood was building up and closing in, making the hollow tower solid. He was going to crush everything within it, the Grimm included. Himself included.

"Penny!" he yelled. "This is my last command to you. Remove them from the tower and take them to safety!"

A hand gripped my collar before I could move. Penny's voice was resigned. Sad. "Yes father."

"Ironwood!" I roared, struggling against a grip somehow far stronger than me. Penny wrapped us all up in bonds of her green energy, using them like chains and dragging us to the portal, cutting through Grimm with her other hand. "Don't do this! You can close the tower from the other side! Penny, save him!"

"I cannot," Penny whispered. "Father's power is not infinite. He must be here, at the source. If he leaves with us, he will be unable to close the tower. We would need to capture it again and the losses would be insurmountable."

That-

It would be worth it. We could fight. Ironwood was too important to lose.

He was already dead. I knew that. He knew it. If he could open a portal directly to a Priest then perhaps he would live, but even that was uncertain. I doubted he had much blood left in his body. The man was running on willpower alone. Duty alone.

I watched him push up to his feet, standing tall and regal as the Grimm closed in. Watched him raise his staff as we were dragged through the portal and to safety, landing on the grass outside the tower, down on the bottom floor once more. As the portal slid shut, I saw him stab the staff down onto the ground and scream at the top of his voice.

The CCT burst out and up. Slim branches tore forth and speared through the giant Nevermore on top. Roots erupted deep underground and leaves of silvery metal burst into life, filling the sky above Beacon as a gargantuan tree some hundred metres tall exploded into life, a dying Nevermore writhing and impaled within its branches. The walls became gnarled and knotted, the entrance solid. The inside of the CCT slammed shut on itself, becoming a solid trunk as the Archmage fed every drop of himself to the living metal that had taken his name.

And now, I knew, his life.

"Goodbye, fathe- fath… faaa…"

Penny's emerald weapons fluttered away. The girl, who I'd never been able to see as anything but, tumbled to the floor, rigid and still. Her eyes, so bright and mischievous, were but chunks of hardened metal wood. The Archmage was gone. The one way we could reinforce the walls was gone.

As if summoned by the very thoughts, the sun itself dimmed behind us, and a vast explosion of rock and black light erupted from the western wall of Vale, followed quickly by the tolling of the bells, signalling that the city had been breached.


You know, I've had some people say I don't kill many characters in my stories and so it's hard to believe the stakes are actually life and death because people know that I'll usually let everyone get out alive. I don't think it's wrong to say that, and this hardly proves otherwise. It's an exception, and they're side characters at best.

If this were an original story I absolutely would have killed a few of them by now. In fanfiction that's harder. I'm reminded of when I killed a character in a currently ongoing story of mine, and a lot of people just up and refused to read any further. Sorry, they weren't here to see anyone die, even if that story is darker than this one. They just quit instantly, and I got a few angry PMs for the trouble, with people saying I hadn't "put a warning" on the story to say it included character death.

Things like that make it hard to kill off characters, even if I intellectually know I need to prove that a story has consequences and stakes, and if the best way to prove that isn't to hint at it but SHOW it by having those stakes tested. Well, this note is mostly unrelated to this chapter, lol. Just throwing it out there as a bit of a personal musing. As I said, the deaths this chapter aren't a way for me to address that. Ironwood was slated to die since his first appearance.


Next Chapter: 30th September

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur