The workshop reeked of burning. I hadn't left this place in nineteen hours. My temples throbbed in time with the small pump's piston. My right shoulder burned as if a red-hot nail had been driven into it.
"Drink," Noah said curtly, setting a mug in front of me. "Darwin is terrified enough. If you go down, I dread to think what happens to him."
"What's outside?" I asked, taking a swallow.
Noah leaned against the workbench, cluttered with blueprints.
"Yesterday, when I took the token from those losers in the woods, I stayed a bit longer. College mages are noisy creatures. They march today. At sunset, they plan a 'cleansing ritual' for the city gates. Simply put, they will burn us."
"At sunset." I looked at the narrow workshop window. We had four hours, at best. "Darwin! Bring the pressure gauges and that copper coil!"
"Coming, coming!" Darwin crawled out from under the belly of the massive iron structure. His face was black with fuel oil, his hair stood on end. "Iron, we won't have time to insulate the boiler. If a mage hits the hull with lightning, we boil inside."
"Grounding," I tapped a finger on the blueprint. "Copper chains along the perimeter. The entire charge goes into the earth."
The structure we were building looked nothing like a horse. It was a heavy, squat tractor, plated in two layers of forged iron. Between the layers, I ordered crushed mica packed in—the best dielectric we could find in such volume. I called it the "Trojan Horse" because outside it was just a lumbering heap of metal, but a surprise hid inside.
The workshop suddenly grew brighter. Elyria materialized on the tractor's roof, legs dangling in light woven sandals.
"How ugly," she declared, wrinkling her nose. "Let me at least run wild grapes along the sides? It'll look like a living hill."
"Elyria," I exhaled, trying to scrape together the remains of my calm. "If your grapes get into the air intake, the boiler stalls, and this 'hill' explodes."
"You are such bores."
Noah lazily raised his eyes to the spirit.
"The locals think you are a deity, Elyria. If you want to help, fly to the highway and tell us when their vanguard crosses the stream."
Elyria stuck her tongue out at him and vanished in a gust of wind, knocking over a stack of my calculations.
A memory from my past life flashed through my mind.
“Elyria is just like a small child… even Aria was better,” I thought mentally, returning to work. I had to install the central shaft. I tried to tighten the locking bolt with my right hand, but the prosthesis suddenly let out a nasty grind and jammed.
"Damn it..." I gritted my teeth.
"Let me," Noah was there before I could finish swearing.
He took the massive wrench and with ease, tightened the bolt to the limit.
"Thanks," I wiped sweat from my forehead. "Listen, Noah. You understand your role? When we punch through their first line of shields, I open the hatch. You need to eliminate Cassian and the coordinating mages. Dornheim's cannons will do the rest."
"Of course I understand," he said.
By three in the afternoon, chaos hit the workshop. Walter arrived.
"The Count sends word: the Inquisition and mages are a mile away. Formed in a combat square. Wayland is trying to stall with negotiations, but Cassian won't even step out of his carriage. He sent a demand for unconditional surrender in ten minutes."
"Darwin, ignite the injectors!" I shouted, throwing the wrench aside.
"Pressure isn't up! If we move now, the pistons will shatter!" Darwin darted between the gauges.
"Do it!"
I climbed into the tractor's cab. It was a cramped, suffocating space, lined with lead sheets. My vision swam.
Not the time, I thought, activating the skill.
The pressure indicator burned before my eyes. 3.2... 3.8... 4.1... We needed at least five for this carcass to move.
Crack!
One of the main steam pipes burst at the joint. Scalding steam filled the cab. Darwin screamed somewhere outside.
"We won't make it..." I wheezed, feeling my consciousness slipping.
At that moment, Elyria peered into the cab.
She pressed her palms to the burst pipe. I expected her to burn, but instead, I saw a layer of tough, transparent tree sap instantly grow over the metal, hermetically sealing the breach.
"I'll play along. But later you build me a fountain. With real water!"
The gauge needle jumped to 5.5.
"Seal the hatches!" I commanded.
The tractor shuddered. Heavy gears engaged the track drive I had designed based on old tractors from my memory. Slowly, we rolled out of the shop onto Dornheim's main square.
The locals parted in silence.
Count Wayland stood by the city gates.
"Master Iron. I hope this thing meets my expectations."
The gates groaned open. On the horizon, the mages stood in tight formation. Their staffs glowed blue, forming a dome over the detachment. Cassian stood on a rise, his rod raised to the sky.
"They've started the ritual," Noah's voice from the troop compartment was calm. "The sky is darkening."
I slammed the steam lever to maximum.
We began to gather speed down the long bridge leading to the mages' positions.
I felt blood run from my nose. My brain was boiling under Lumon's influence. But I couldn't stop. I saw the structure of their magical dome.
"Iron, you're shaking all over!" shouted Darwin, who had stayed on the running board to feed the coal. "Stop, you'll burn out!"
"Just... a little more..." I wheezed.
A white veil covered my eyes. Lumon screamed of danger:
[CRITICAL OVERHEAT OF COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS. IMMEDIATE ABORT RECOMMENDED]
At that moment, the first mage volley hit our frontal plate. Something massive splashed across the armor.
“How about that?” I exhaled
The tractor was ramming. A hundred meters left to the College positions.
"Noah, get ready!" I shouted, holding the lever with the last of my strength.
"I am always ready," came Noah's cold voice. "Just don't forget to open the door."
We smashed into their first line at full speed. The "Iron Boar" crushed the front rows of the College guards into the dirt and stopped right in the center of their camp, shrouded in a cloud of steam and soot.
I yanked the pressure release lever. The side hatch slammed open.
"Out," I whispered.
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