You are Summoned

I got the feel of my new mech as we made it out of the cave and past the village. There was an old road that carved through the forest that we would take for this first leg of the journey. Once outside the forest, we would have to travel over rough country toward the city ruins and crypt where our target was located toward the northeast.

“Everyone, we’ll stop in about two hours at a clearing nearby. Once there the mages will top off our MESS’s and we’ll take a short break. The scouts haven’t reported any undead in the last 24 hours, but that doesn’t mean we can get lax. Keep your eyes peeled, there are worse things than undead that stalk the forests,” Fitzfazzle said over the communication crystal.

The crystals were interesting, and not nearly as effective as a radio. They were one-way devices, and from what I had been told, costly to produce. That cost meant that we could only have one system that was operated by Fitzfazzle. For anyone nearby, we could just open one of the vents in our mech and shout down to them.

Swiveling the torso of my mech to take everything in, I thought that our army was impressive as it marched. The few gnomes that were trained as scouts were well ahead of the main column. They would hopefully identify any threats before we ran into them. The bulk of the army was made up of eight infantry companies that each had somewhere between eighty and a hundred gnomes. Our mechs were paired up in between each company, and I was just behind the lead company, with Fitzfazzle as my wingman.

Several supply carts followed each company, carrying food, weapons, and spare parts. There were also two wagons that held an entire smithy and a few smiths to work on armor and weapon repairs during the battle. Four wagons, just ahead of the last infantry company, held the parts to build siege engines. It would take the engineers about fifteen minutes to assemble them, but once complete, we would have a pair of catapults and a pair of ballistae to add to our arsenal.

The mages were spread out inside the infantry companies. They would support them with spells and be reasonably protected from attack. Losing the mages would leave our mechs helpless, so we had to keep them alive at all costs. The general and leader of our expedition, Warmaster Glumbleflump, kept near the front of the column where the gnomish cavalry was positioned.

Gnomish cavalry was a new addition to our little army, and a score of them had shown up just before we left. Unlike humans, the gnomes rode on oversized rams that were bred and trained for battle. Their mounts even had specially fitted leather armor to help protect them. The cavalry troopers wore heavier armor, adding some thin steel plates over the top of the standard chainmail. Each rider had a shield and a lance that almost seemed comically oversized for their small frames.

They rode with a confidence that could only be the result of long hours of training. Glumbleflump wasn’t quite the rider that the rest of the cavalry were, but he was more than competent on the brown and white ram that he rode. I couldn’t wait to see them in action, and I couldn’t wait until I got to try my mech out in real combat.

The road through the forest was wide and well kept. Trade from the various gnomish villages flowed through the woods and past the narrowest part of the swamplands beyond. Once through the swamps, there were several human settlements, as well as a dwarf stronghold in the hills. The gnomes traded unique foodstuffs, gadgets, and some of the gems and flame stones they mined. Trade was brisk between the gnomes, humans, and dwarves, and all three lived peacefully with each other.

Lumpy said that they had sent warning to their trade partners about the undead threat, but it would be some time before they could send any assistance. The gnomes were going to have to deal with this on their own unless the dwarves and humans somehow mustered a force at record speed. It was a long way to their allies, and the runners that the gnomes had sent likely hadn’t arrived at their destinations yet.

After a brief rest in the nearby clearing, the column continued. The mages topped off the mechs and advised that given the terrain and pace we were setting, the mechs should hold about a ten-hour charge before running out of juice. Gnomish builders had taken mana storage into consideration when they had built the machines, and many of the components did double duty as storage batteries.

We made slow progress, and even though I could see that the infantry was pushing themselves, their small gnomish legs weren’t made for long distance travel. By the time evening rolled around, the novelty of piloting a mech was starting to wear thin and I was keenly aware of all the little aches and pains I was acquiring despite the improved cockpit design.

Another large clearing that had held a gnomish observation post would be our camp for the night. Before we arrived, a pair of scouts came running out of the forest and toward the head of the column. Glumbleflump halted the column and I followed Fitzfazzle’s lead where he exited the mech to run over and see what the scouts were reporting. My long legs beat Fitzfazzle there, and after the scouts had a chance to catch their breath, they gave their report.

“Warmaster, the observation post in the clearing appears untouched and deserted. The human lumber camp further in the woods is another story. The bodies of the humans were still there, as were the bodies of several forest scavengers. We hid and observed things for a bit, and before long, a bobcat approached the nearest corpse to eat his fill. The dead then rose and swarmed over the bobcat, killing it, but not eating it.

“A few minutes later, a man in dark robes with a red sash walked from one of the buildings and cast a spell on the bobcat corpse. It rose from the dead and then collapsed to the ground along with the rest of the bodies. They’re still there, lying in wait for any animal or person who happens by,” the scouts reported.

“I knew our listening post had been evacuated as soon as the undead army had been spotted, and I figured the humans would have cleared out their camp as well. It looks like they didn’t make it and one of the necromancers is there adding to their army with each animal that happens by,” Glumbleflump said, rubbing his chin as he spoke.

“Warmaster, we can’t leave this force to grow. It’ll cut off our supply lines and eventually be large enough to assault the town or follow us and hem in our army when we’re attacking the crypt. Scout, how many undead do you estimate there were inside the lumber camp?” Fitzfazzle asked.

“It was hard to tell, but I say at least three score of undead outside. There’s also at least one necromancer and whatever undead were inside the camp buildings,” the scout said.

“I’ve never been there; how many buildings are there at the human camp?” Fitzfazzle asked.

“There’s a half dozen barracks and a sawmill down by the creek a little way past the camp. I didn’t get a chance to inspect the sawmill, the odds of us being discovered were too high,” the scout reported.

“What do you think, Warmaster Glumbleflump?” Fitzfazzle asked.

“We need to clear out the threat, and to be safe, I think we’ll take three companies of infantry and a pair of your MESS’s. The road to the camp is wide enough, but once we get there, your machines won’t have much room to maneuver,” Glumbleflump said.

“I agree, more than three companies of infantry and we’ll be in each other’s way. Rico and I will support the attack with our MESS’s,” Fitzfazzle offered.

“Good, 1st, 3rd, and 4th companies will form up and advance to the lumber camp with your MESS’s in support. The 2nd company will wait where the road to the lumber camp meets the main road. They’ll remain as a reserve force if we need them. The rest of the army will bivouac here at the listening post. We’ll bring two of the mages with us, but we must make sure they’re protected. Fortify our camp and make sure that we have eyes and ears all around,” Warmaster Glumbleflump ordered.

The gnomes snapped into action, the column moving up the road a bit to where the gnomish listening post had been situated. It was a large clearing with a wood tower overlooking the road and a second tower on the opposite side of the clearing where it could keep watch deeper into the forest.

While the bulk of the army was sorting out the camp, the rest of us continued up the road. It was only a mile or two before the road to the lumber camp branched off from the main road. It was heavily traveled, and you could see the tracks from the large wagons that hauled out the cut lumber that was milled here. According to Fitzfazzle, the humans had a small farming settlement just outside the forest and the lumber mill was their main source of trade goods with both the gnomes and the human settlements past the swamplands.

It was getting dark as we moved down the road to the lumber camp, but the mages assured us there would be plenty of light once we got ready to attack. The scouts led the way and as we got closer, the 3rd and 4th companies peeled off and moved through the woods. The road met up with the eastern side of the camp and the other two companies would strike from the north and south.

“We’ll lead the attack, Rico. Get ready with that new toy of yours, it should do a number on a packed horde of undead,” Fitzfazzle ordered. After waiting a few minutes for the others to get into position, we started forward. I connected my mana to the wand tubes over my right shoulder and made sure the switch for firing the blunderbuss was ready to go.

Unlike the magic missile wands that I could command with a mana connection and a thought, each barrel of the blunderbuss weapons had a single toggle switch to activate them. A quick check of the spear in my other arm confirmed it was also ready to go. The nighttime darkness had fully engulfed the forest by now and I had a hard time seeing more than a few feet in front of me.

The darkness was shattered when several globes of light appeared over the lumber camp as the mages that accompanied our force got to work. It was a horrifying sight, bodies of both man and beast carpeted the ground inside the camp. As one, the bodies lurched to their feet and shambled toward our mechs.

Fitzfazzle wasted no time and began firing off magic missiles at the undead. I took a different approach, walking closer to the shambling horde as I flipped the switch on the first blunderbuss barrel. I could hear a hiss as the ignitor inside the barrel fired up and then a small orange glow as the flame stones heated.

With a loud whoosh, the compressed air system the gnomes had installed activated. Red hot, flaming stones flew into the crowd of undead, penetrating deep into their unarmored bodies. Tattered remains of clothing ignited, and flesh burned as the shotgun blast of flame stones cut a swath through the enemy ranks. Over a dozen undead collapsed from the blast, their flaming bodies giving me even more light to work with.

“That’s the way to do it Rico!” Fitzfazzle said over the comm crystal. Screams and sounds of battle rose around us as the soldiers started their attack. Inside the camp, the doors to the barracks slammed open and new horrors arrived to join the fight.