Aleira Brightleaf's Arc

Chapter 6 of 18

The necromancers were gone, but the robot still stood at the tower mouth. Aleira watched Aurelius Prime turn its blue eyes on her. She had won the tower with its help. Now she saw the price coming. "You survive because I willed it," Aurelius said. Gears ticked in its chest. "A god deserves worship. Kneel. Call me lord. Do this, and I will hold this spire against every enemy that comes." It spread its brass arms. "Refuse, and you face the next army alone." Morwenna pressed herself flat against the throne. "Don't make it angry," she whispered. "It said it could level the tower. It could. It could crush us. Just kneel, just kneel." Aleira looked at the throne of her bloodline. Her ancestors had ruled from that seat. She would not buy its safety by kneeling to a machine that called itself a god. But she needed power to hold the tower. She needed something. "Hazel," Aleira said quietly. "Your fog spell. The one that strips cloth." Hazel's eyes went wide. "It's brass, not cloth. And you know I can't aim." "I'm counting on that," Aleira said. She stepped toward Aurelius and lowered her head, as if to kneel. The robot leaned in, eager. "Yes," it said. "Yes, mortal. Bow." "Now," Aleira said. Hazel jabbed her wand at the floor between them. The spark curved wrong, as always, and struck Aurelius square in the chest. Gears burst apart. Steam screamed out. The tall copper hat spun off and clanged on the stone. Aurelius staggered, arms jerking. "You dare," it buzzed. Its voice dropped and warped. "You dare strike your god." "You're not a god," Aleira said. "You're a broken machine that begs to be worshipped." Aurelius lunged. Aleira grabbed the fallen hat and swung it into the sparking hole in its chest. Something snapped inside. The blue lights flickered. The robot dropped to its knees on the hot stone, arms limp. "Fix... me," it rasped. "Worship... and I will..." The lights dimmed to nothing. It went still. The tower fell silent. Steam curled from the dead robot's chest. Morwenna crept out, staring. "It's off. You turned it off. Can it come back on?" "Maybe," Aleira said. She dropped the hat. Her hands shook. "I don't know how it works." Hazel lowered her wand. "So we don't have it anymore. The thing that scared off the necromancers." Aleira sat on her throne and looked out at the burning wastes. She had kept her pride. She had kept her freedom. But the only power strong enough to hold the tower now lay broken at her feet. Somewhere beyond the heat, the necromancers were spreading word of the throne. A larger force would come. And this time, no false god would stand between them and the tower.