The Butcher of Gadobhra

Chapter 443: Digging In

The sound of hooves preceded Harmonia riding up to the wagons, her horse leaping completely over it, and the rider doing a leaping dismount. People got out of her way as she ran to Themis. "We have trouble. My Weather Sense is going crazy. If I were on my ship I'd be running with full sail from a typhoon. Whatever storm is coming will be terrible."

Captain Bernice looked at her troopers. "Running isn't an option. The horses are done in. They need time to recover from the fight and the cold is worsening."

Themis didn't doubt Harmonia for a second. The woman had captained ships for decades all over the world. The worsening winds and cold confirmed that, but what worried her was the way the clouds overhead were rotating. "And I suppose we might have to deal with a tornado?"

"Only if we get lucky, I think we have worse coming." The Butcher joined the three women and their officers, not wasting time for pleasantries like bowing or saluting. He pointed to the sky. "I hope to hell that I'm wrong, but that looks like a Cyclone to me, a sentient storm and a lot of bad news. They're belligerent, cruel, and terribly powerful. Only the gods of the smoke keep them in check. They're the highest form of elemental."

Ordo Fallowstone stared with hatred at the clouds, "Sentient? That explains so much. We could feel the storm when it attacked us, the hatred as much an attack as the cold. It came again and again, keeping us penned within the Collegium. We thought the hatred came from the Storm Mage attacking us with weather magic, but it was so strong!"

"Can we ride it out inside the college?"

The Mage shook his head, "It's ready to collapse. We'd all be trapped in the lower levels, or crushed in the upper stories."

"Not an option I like. It just means Winter has hundreds of us trapped and starving." Themis glanced at the ditch then turned to Ozzy, "Get your people to start digging. I've ridden out storms before in a root cellar on a farm. Dig us as many root cellars as you can."

With their usual efficiency, the Contract Workers started digging, throwing up huge piles of dirt that others moved out of the way. Dig4 kept their tunnels from collapsing as they compressed the walls and ceilings. They made a ramp sloping downward until they hit rock after twenty feet and started hollowing out a room. Jorges marked out where to leave pillars of compressed dirt to support the roof. As soon as there was room, a wagon was brought down, filled with dirt, and pulled back to the top. The ramp was widened, allowing for a constant stream of wagons down and back up.

Caldrius and Rastfian became involved. The older mage had knowledge of earth-moving spells, filling wagons as fast as a team of Workers. Ozzy approached him, opened up his bag, and pointed to it. "Fill it up until I say stop. I'll start hauling away a few tons at a time and dumping it upstairs. Cauldrius directed a stream of dirt and loose gravel into the bag, and then the Butcher walked away, his feet compacting further the compressed dirt of the ramp. Up top, a smaller ring made of half the wagons surrounded the entrance and a small courtyard. The extra earth was being dumped on either side of the wagons and into the beds, creating a growing berm that would add protection from the coming storm. Wagonloads of supplies were being moved downstairs.

Rastfian had spent his entire life studying rock and dirt and relished the challenge of working so quickly. He sheathed the pillars in stone and connected them with cross bars of stone. He was greatly enjoying himself, flexing his magical muscles and utilizing his specialty. The Workers accepted the help of the two mages, joking and talking with them as they worked furiously to dig out a safe spot in the ground.

Themis had hoped for a place to put the wounded and some of her troops. What she got in a half hour was a basement fortress that was constantly expanding. When Jorges judged one end was sufficiently safe, they rolled down the wagons holding the wounded. They might actually fit most of the humans down there. But she knew she'd have a problem with the cavalry. Neither the Legion nor the Red Banner would want to leave their mounts to die. She prepared herself for an argument but instead found that someone had come up with a solution.

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Saddles and tack were being loaded into wagon beds, covered with tarps, and buried under the piles of dirt. The cavalry were securing blankets on their mounts and making sure they were fed. Only a few horses were still saddled, all of them belonging to House Franklin. Harmony was directing the work and getting the herd ready to move. She saw Themis coming but didn't stop working.

"Let me guess, you think you can outrun this storm? How are you keeping the herd together, even with a dozen Couriers?"

Harmony pointed to a brightly painted taco wagon, being pulled by four Workers. Rolly was sitting next to Aleister, held in place with leather straps and holding his crook. He looked terrible, but the Alchemist was handing him potion after potion and Myrna passed him food as fast as he could eat. "I've got a semi-functional Shepherd to keep the herd together and work his magic. Between us, we can outrun whatever storm is coming. If it's a Cyclone and it chases us it's going to be in for a long race. I've got four Workers hopped up on speed potions to pull the wagon. Delbert is inside and will keep the horses warm. And I have excellent scouting."

Themis looked up to where the small, winged woman was darting back and forth. "Get moving then, that storm is going to hit any minute."

Harmony whistled long and loud and the Workers pulling the wagon began sprinting away, their path made clear and a herd of hundreds of horses following behind them. The only horses left were Ben's horse, Mudhead, and three Courier mounts that had been taken into the bunker.

The camp was nearly deserted with a dozen workers loading supplies into the bunker or dumping dirt onto the growing berm around the camp and packing down the dirt. It was cold now in the camp and growing colder. Coal fires had been started in the four corners of the bunker. There was only one fire left burning in the camp. Themis saw the Butcher smoking a cigar next to a new firepit. He had piles of firewood and coal around the pit and was checking the sky, constantly. Overhead, a twister was visible, growing larger and larger, a blue-white monster from the plane of Ice.

The general noted that several people didn't look like they were planning on taking shelter below. Caldrius and Rastfian stood near the firepit, the older mage smiling at it and carrying on a conversation, the Earth Mage looked worried, but oddly happy. Several workers were driving stakes and securing two catapults to the ground. The Fae Sorceress whom Baron William had somehow convinced to accompany his workers was roasting sausages on the fire while a group of insubstantial fairies braided her hair. Claudia sat next to her with her two bodyguards, in her full Ducal armor, also enjoying what might be a last meal. Harmonia stood on a wagon, staring at the sky, unworried about the cold.

Grabbing food for herself, the General addressed the Butcher, "You look like you're preparing to fight it."

"I'm going to give it a try, but I won't lie, these things are more powerful than you can imagine. I saw them in the Smoke, and they're like gods there, only held in check by the Gods of the Smoke because they can be bound by them. They're like pampered children with too much power."

"You fought one?"

"Yeah, a couple. But I had a lot of help. Knocked two of them into the seas and fed them to the Queen of the Kraken and her children. She likes the taste of them. Gave me this ring as a thank you." The ring was a thick bronze band with a signet of a many-armed Kraken. Themis felt like the one large eye was staring at her and looked away, quickly.

"So, how are we fighting this thing?"

"It will have a core in the middle, that's the weakest part of them. The rest is just wind and ice. You can do some damage to them by disrupting their winds, but the core is the key to killing them. If we can weaken it enough, I might be able to grab the core. Not sure how yet, sort of making things up as I go."

Themis nodded, "All we can do. Making plans to fight something like this never works anyway."

A roar from above drew all eyes to the fully formed Cyclone as it began to drop toward them.