Dragonborn Saga

Chapter 687: Clockwork Pickles

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With the rise of Jon's own abomination, the battle was facing a drastic change. Gluttony has manifested its own personification in the shape of Wendigo, a creature of horror and nothing but the horror that the look of it would make the innards of the lookers churn in pain and twist in agony.

As the creature was let loose on the battlefield, it charged at all the Abominations in its way and started to rip their flesh off their mechanical part and add it to its own. It devoured everything without discrimination like a wolf in a flock of sheep.

"You madman! What have you created?! What have you done?! Seht curses you!"

Unbearable to the sight of the Clockwork Apostles, their leader Galyn rushed at Jon with a face dampened with tears. Glymet failed to stop him as he was occupied by the Abominations that still fought and so when Galyn wanted to clash with Jon, the latter held him by the neck and raised him as he struggled with the unbelievable power of the choking clutch.

"Seht is dead." Jon replied, "Your false idol can't curse let alone protect."

"He shall curse you, Saint Killer!" Galyn shouted.

"Hah!" Jon laughed, "I like zealots like you but you are blinding yourself by yourself."

Jon threw Galyn off and walked away.

"The World of Sotha Sil is a mockery of reality, the Divinity of Sotha Sil is a mockery of True Divinity, even this so-called Resurrection is a mockery of Creation. I'd argue that Mannimarco has done a better job than Seht playing with Soul Gems and bringing back the dead."

To such a statement, Galyn couldn't bear what he heard.

"How d…"

He was about to burst into rage at Jon but just as the words were on the tip of his tongue, Jon was already staring at him with a deep dark stare.

One more breath and it is the last, no need for words to convey that, the dormant survival instinct of the mammals inside the mortal races is enough to interpret the look in Jon's eyes.

All Galyn could do was freeze until Jon looks away and leaves him be. After that, he slowly started to tremble while touching the fortunate neck between his head and shoulders.

As for Jon, he had a personal reason to sacrifice the Souls of three Dunmeri Saints to Gluttony. Those three were enemies of his ancestors and he wasn't really keen on letting some ghosts with grudges against his own race keep haunting some Clockwork War Machines.

And while it may cause a diplomatic deterioration between him and the Dunmer people, he was sure that no one would believe that some Dunmer Heroes from the First Era survived in Black Soul Gems till the Fourth Era. Moreover, nowadays opinion about trapping souls in Black Soul Gems is really frowned upon, thus if word gets out that Sotha Sil had three saints trapped in Soul Gems and Jon Dare broke those gems, most of those who would hear it would think badly of Sotha Sil before questioning what Jon did.

Truth is a funny thing. It can be very subjective.

As for the current situation, it was almost concluded. Jon had the Assembly Line of Mecinar's Abominations destroyed and beyond it, he uncovered the atrocities he did to the creatures of the Clockwork Realm. Both Apostles and Fabricants were captured by Mecinar and subjected to horrid transformations and mechanical implants that were part of some sick crossbreed between Alchemy and Engineering.

Beyond it was a laboratory where Mecinar seemed to have conducted some experiments and preserved some of his results in cylinder glass tubes filled with green liquids. These were the base forms on which the army of abominations was being constructed.

"He made people go through this kind of torture? For what?" Glymet asked.

"A mad scientist wouldn't need an excuse to turn their fellow man into jarred pickles." Jon replied with a long sigh then let out a short laugh, "Imagine it! Pickling people."

And as he remarked that, a voice replied with the same amount of mockery Jon conveyed.

"Pickling? Please, don't spout such hearsay. It is atrocious!"

"Ah! The Pickle Man himself. Lord of the Clockwork Pickles." Jon turned in the direction of the voice to see Mecinar standing alone on a far-off platform where a mad scientist would get a full view of his mad experiment.

"What you see here is the fruits… "Pickles!" …of my excellence in the biomechanical field." Mecinar said with a mild interruption from Jon, "I have created lifeforms that go beyond reason, Jon Dare. You see there, these beautiful creations have their vital organs powered and energized to emit the same level of vitality a living being has."

"So they have emotions? Feelings? Thoughts?" Glymet asked.

"Maybe." Jon replied.

"No… I wouldn't do that to them." Mecinar replied, "I am not that monster you are painting me in your head, gentleman. I am just like your friend here. He uses Mortal Bodies and Daedric Vessels for Necromancy all the time, I use them in different ways."

"I don't mass murder people to raise their corpses." Jon said.

"I didn't murder people either. I captured them alive for the purpose of making LIFEFORMS. I can't grant people life, not yet anyway." Mecinar replied, "And before you all think badly of mez, your friend Jon Dare treated his enemies that were bandits, pirates, and Dragon Cultists much worse than I."

"I do." Jon replied, "Those who intend to terrorize my people have given me full permission to terrorize them the same way they would do to those innocents I protect. Quit trying to relate your methods with mine."

"Fine. You're much better and ethical than the filthy me, Lord Jon Dare." Mecinar murmured while rolling his eyes.

"Damn right, I am." On the other hand, Jon crossed his arms and wore an expression of pride on his face.

"Enough with that." Glymet felt tired of the two, "For your crimes, Mecinar, you shall answer to the people."

"See what I am talking about?" Mecinar asked Jon, "That's the kind of attitude that gets people killed. If you have enough power to enforce your laws, you are free to enforce them."

"As I said, those who intend on terrorizing people have given their permission to be treated less than humans." Jon said while aiming his staff at Mecinar.

"Oh, come on." Mecinar, however, sneered widely, "You really think that the evil wizard would come to face the heroes after you've annihilated his evil army?"

No one had the time to reply or to expect what was going to happen next.

The land started to shake and a sense of danger started to crawl under everyone's skin or scales (in the case of Swims and Kota). Just as they were about to jump at Mecinar and try to capture him to get ahead of what disaster he was brewing, the land beneath them collapsed and a large maw full of fangs and teeth rose from within to swallow them whole.

"SHOCKWAVE!"

Jon had a spell ready and in less than a second, he sent everyone around him as far from the newcoming monster as possible. He alone was in the middle of the attack and the owner of that large maw attempted to swallow Jon who was holding the jaws of the thing with sheer physical strength.

"Oh, Azura!" Laaneth recovered from the shockwave and saw the head of the thing that was trying to eat Jon.

"The madman!" Even Swims-at-Night was stunned by what he saw.

"What… the… fuck?!" Jon, on the other hand, was trying to figure out the identity of his attacker as he felt immense pressure from the jaw power that thing had.

It looked Mechanical, the same as anything else in Clockwork City, but it had organic parts just like most fabricants, the animals that dwell in this realm.

"I promised Seht I would create the most perfect lifeform, something to surpass him, something he can never do. As he felt threatened by my talent, he cast me out of his world. Out there, I felt I could never do it, and even amidst my search for the city, I wasn't confident I would fulfill my promise until I met you, Jon Dare. You have my…"

"Short version please." Jon said as he was struggling against the thing.

"Huh?" Mecinar didn't notice Jon was still struggling under the maw's pressure since he didn't have a good angle on that sight.

"I'd sooner die to this thing before you finish your speech, you long-winded bastard!" Jon cursed, "Somebody, give me a tl;dr."

"It's a Dragon!" Glymet shouted, "A… Clockwork Dragon!" [A/n: added to Discord Gallery.]

"Bastard!" Jon managed to muster enough strength to push back the dragon's jaw and jumped as far as he could.

*ROAAAAAAAAAAAR*

But the beast that crawled from the earth was right behind him. Jon jumped and flew off the facility by crashing its window and the Dragon chased him by crashing through the walls and the roof.

Above the city a man levitated in the air and to boost his speed, he used his incredible leg power to jump from one building to another as the building he came from exploded and a large shadow came from within.

Two large wide wings covered the light of the sky as a creature of myth and legend appeared over the legendary city. A dragon made of machinery, skin, and flesh

The Apostles looked at the sky as if their world has ended and couldn't breathe from the terror they saw. Even when Jon looked behind him as he ran, he didn't believe Mecinar had created a Dragon Fabricant, a Clockwork Dragon.

It was mindless, beastly even, programmed with crazed behavior, possessed no Thu'um, but it was a devastating machine of war. Jon couldn't fight this thing in the city, the casualties would be too great, he needs to return to the Mire Mechanica and deal with it one on one.

With one move, Mecinar eliminated Jon from the equation once again and kept him busy outside the Brass Fortress.

But the destruction left behind by the Clockwork Dragon caused Glymet and the rest to be trapped in the facility and if not for the help of Ram, they wouldn't be able to clear the debris that blocked the entrance.

"Shit! Everyone alright?" Glymet fixed his posture after moving a broken wall with Telekinesis and reuniting with his companions.

"Where's Jon?" Laaneth asked.

Before anyone would answer her question, a tremor was felt through the city, and in the far distance, a tower was toppling as the Dragon raced with its prey and attempted to block his way.

As the tower fell apart, a mage was seen soaring through the sky, and just as the Dragon started to release its artificial Dragon Breath, the falling part of the tower was sucked into a large portal. Another appeared above the Clockwork Dragon and the fallen tower was redirected on the Dragon's head.

"Let's not ask such questions ever again." Swims said.

"Where is Mecinar then?" Glymet asked.

"Kota thinks… he saw them leave in a… flash." Kota replied as he was trying to drag out his sledgehammer from beneath a broken wall.

"He can be anywhere." Swims said.

"To escape this place, we need to deal with him." Glymet said, "We also can't let him cause more suffering than what he already did."

"I am allergic to heroism, I think we should put our hand on some treasure and leave." Swims said.

"That's what you're thinking about after dragging us with you into this mess?" Laaneth kicked Swims' leg.

"Ah! Sorry, Laaneth."

Swims acted childishly around Laaneth but the serious look on their faces made him stop.

"Let's move out then, if we head deeper, I am sure we will find him." Glymet didn't seem to be going ahead with the plan anymore and decided to chase Mecinar right to the deepest of the Brass Fortress.

"Wait! We were to use the tools of Kagrenac and stop the heart from being exploited. Fighting Mecinar head-on is outright crazy." Laaneth chased Glymet while saying so.

"Jon still has the tools on him, he's taking the Dragon far away by now. We can't waste time or Mecinar will come up with something as annoying as a Clockwork Dragon." Glymet said as he kept marching ahead.

"But we faced a real Dragon and won." Laaneth retorted, "Jon will only be delayed for a while."

"Mecinar is counting on that it seems. He wants us to go after Jon and rescue him. He's stalling." Glymet replied.

His words convinced all the others but Laaneth had a lingering doubt in her heart.

"Then, you have a plan?" She asked.

"Screw up whatever Mecinar is planning, that's a good plan for now."

His words made sense and the group of five decided to rush into the Cogitum Centralis, the deepest part of the Brass Fortress and where Mecinar had fortified himself.

They didn't meet any resistance on the way except for a few Abominations that didn't even slow them down and once they entered the Cogitum Centralis, the large commanding facility of this realm, they headed to the deepest chamber, the Inner Curiosity.

The place seemed abandoned and trashed but only when they reached the Throne Aligned, Sotha Sil's seat of power, when they found utterly nothing.

"Mecinar is not here." Laaneth said, "I've searched everywhere."

"You think he found the chamber of the heart?" Glymet asked.

"I don't know." She felt uncomfortable, "The Memory Crystal that showed us how to open it didn't specify its location."

It felt rather foreboding how their plan had hit a wall since their adversary was nowhere to be seen. But if they could get to the Chamber of Lorkhan, they would definitely run into him.

The Chamber of the Throne Aligned overlooked the entire Brass Fortress and had a great vision of what was going outside as well. If there was anywhere to observe the movements of his enemies, Mecinar should have been here.

This also means that this place is connected everywhere else and if Sotha Sil was as vain as the other two members of the Tribunals, he should have the Chamber of Lorkhan near his seat of power much like how Vivec hanged a meteor in the sky above his palace just to boast.

It has to be…

"It is here."

As the group was still starting to look around, Ram seemed to have headed straight to a certain blank wall and touched it with his hand.

"Ram, you found it?" Laaneth headed towards Ram but just as she was about to get close, a mechanism was activated and some sort of artificial illusion was dispelled from the wall.

In front of them, they saw the gate of a lockbox, much like the Dwemer Lockboxes where the Dwarves of old hid their most precious belongings.

"Incredible!" Glymet exclaimed and walked closer, "I didn't feel a hint of Magicka from that."

But as the group gathered around the gate, Ram kept saying the same thing again and again.

"It is here… it is here… it is here…"

So much for the quietest member of the party, the others started to look at him as he was getting agitated second by second.

"What's wrong with him?" Swims asked.

"Ram… friend…" Kota tried to get closer to Ram.

"It… Is… Here!"

Ram hit the vault door with his two hands and they suddenly phased in.

"Shit! He's unlocking it!" Swims shouted.

"Stop, Ram!" Glymet rushed to hold him, "If you unlock it, Mecinar would be able to…"

*Click*

And it clicked loudly… the sound stopped for a second and everyone looked up, then a series of clicking cogs started to rotate deep behind the walls.

"Uh-oh!" Swims was the first to turn back while the others were looking ahead.

What they saw ahead of them was an intense red light of something quivering, fueled by tremendous energy.

The latest_epi_sodes are on_the ʟɪʙʀᴇᴀᴅ.ᴄᴏᴍ. website.

What Swims saw behind was the man they were trying to catch.

"Guys!"

Swims called and as the others turned back, they could all see the glee on Mecinar's face.

"At last! Once again you have led me to my quarry." Mecinar spoke, "My old master ensured I could never break those seals. Thankfully, you have done it for me."

"Shit!"

The five were in a bad situation since Ram was about to walk into the chamber for God knows what reason and Mecinar was ambushing them from the back.

"Now, it is time you witness my true power."

As Mecinar said so, cracks started to appear on the ground and the entire floor collapsed. Those who were standing couldn't resist the fall and beneath them was an unfathomable depth.

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