Inferno Ascended

Glax didn't have a good feeling about simply opening that 'Valya's Cauldron', as it was called, just like that, and anywhere. He'd played too many games and seen too many movies to know that misdirected and reckless curiosity was always the beginning of an unprecedented catastrophe.

"I think it's best to do it after making sure that opening this sarcophagus won't bring enormous disgrace upon Stygia. Isn't there a story about Pandora's Box?"

Zotikos pursed his lips in frustration, but nodded. "Yes, Lord Glax. I would say that, because this object is kept inside a strong cage, there's a reason why this is so."

"I think we should take Tychos in a vehicle back to Marbium, rather than keep him breathing in all that smoke while we bring the iatromancer here. It won't do him any good." Glax refocused on what was pressing.

"Lord Glax… What I said before. About the Emperor. Please do a better job keeping it a secret than I did." Young Rhoas begged.

"Did you see this with your eyes, or is it a rumor?"

"My mom said that when she reached the emperor, along with other colleagues, the emperor was already dead and cold."

As much as he was dying to keep asking, solving current and local problems was more important than what happened at the imperial court.

"We will return to this matter, Zotikos. As a member of our Archigeos family, I feel I must weigh this information and what to do with it very carefully. But first, we must focus on our colleague's well-being. And what we are doing here is not finished yet."

In addition to the logistical details of how to accompany the refugees to Marbium, Glax witnessed an argument between Thersos' father-in-law and the armorer. The old man didn't want to leave the village for fear of losing all his possessions. Thersos's wife agreed with her father. But the Promethean's widow was already packing and getting her children ready to go.

Glax heard the two children talking to their mother,

"Mom, can't we take our boat?"

"Please, mom! The father said it was ours!"

"No. People out of town don't like these things, and they're going to take it from you and burn it."

"But if we hide it?"

The woman was busy and nervous, and snapped,

"How do you think we'd hide a flying boat?! Also, it's broken, and it's just a useless piece of junk! Leave me alone! Can't you see I'm busy?!" She threatened the boys with an object, and the children ran. 

Glax barred the children's way in the hallway.

"Do you have a flying boat, kids?"

:::::::::::::::::::::::

Frixo and Hele, the two children aged 11 and 9 respectively, had proudly revealed the flying boat that their father, Marcus, had built for them. The Promethean named the children after two young famed heroes who had fled their stepmother in a flying golden ram.

The dinghy, which had been built like an eight-foot-long rowboat, had a small boiler. It served to inflate balloons made from the hide of a marine animal called a blister-eel. They were long and resistant bags filled with hot air, but light and waterproof. 

The boat was painted yellow and white and had a ram's face drawn on the bow. The tubes that carried the hot air to the long balloons, tied together like a blue awning over the vehicle, were shaped like horns. Glax marveled at the Promethean's inventiveness, and imagined that he would have liked to have met Marcus.

The problem with the boat was that the boiler was not pressurizing enough or distributing the hot air as it should, and the boat was tilting and heeling to one side. 

The Valosian agreed with the children that he would fix the boat if they would lend him the vehicle this time. Glax intended to take Tychos in the vehicle that would navigate a road without sudden jolts, preserving his cervical spine.

After a few hours, with the help of Thersos and the tools they found in Marcus' lab, they were able to solder the holes in the pipe.

Thersos had said that many Prometheans couldn't just go back home when the Sanction was issued. They were a long way from the capitals and didn't learn of the mandate until it was too late and the Promethean ships had departed. 

Thus, banished and hunted, they began to live in hiding, and resorting, for the most part, to smuggling and crime, or abandoning their identities altogether. So Marcus and some others had little choice but to accept to work for Megas and keep providing for their families.

The party left Stimhena towards Marbium in a long procession of carts, horses, and people on foot. And the flying boat went ahead.

The two children were on top, along with Thycos. Glax and Thersos were on foot, keeping the boat roped and stable. Frixo was skilled at fueling the boiler when needed, and Hele watched over Tychos, keeping him hydrated. The boat had not risen for more than 10 meters, and in fact, they kept it floating only 4 meters above the ground at all times.

The return took a long time, because of the civilians, and they arrived in Marbium only in the middle of the night. Everyone was exhausted and grumpy, but safe and sound as they faced no danger.

All refugees would sleep in a warehouse in the harbor that served to house the army's goods. It was the best they had. 

The next day, these people would try to start their lives over until they could go home someday.

But the Aegeons still had a few more miles to walk before reaching the fort...

In the morning, when the exhausted warriors awoke, they presented their report to Lord Arsenio. Only Glax spoke, and he was succinct and cautious, including the facts Thersos had recounted.

"In short, Lord Arsenio, after fighting magical creatures that were half machine and half-person, even if it didn't look like it on the outside, we found witnesses. They kept themselves hidden and faced the daily danger of not being able to leave Stimhena. Some of these people had been forced to work at the factory by gun smugglers for a long time. And they witnessed it when a mysterious man named Sarpedon teamed up with the leader of the smugglers. They built automatons of various types, including one with tens of meters, for unknown purposes. Angered by the situation and realizing that Sarpedon was an evil sorcerer, the forced laborers revolted and turned against the smuggler and the sorcerer. But their revenge cast a curse upon Stimhena. The sorcerer became the machine, and his insanity only got worse over time. The abandoned plant used the automatons to gather supplies for new creations… When we found out about that, we went to the abandoned factory. And, after a confrontation with a 4-meter robot, a totally intelligent automaton, we managed to destroy Sarpedon definitively and set fire on the cursed plant… We took a mystical artifact with us. It's a Valya's Cauldron. I ask permission to continue investigating, and return to Stimhena to find out if there are any further threats to our clan, and to the empire."

Lord Arsenio asked more detailed questions, but then gave Glax and his squad permission to continue the investigation. He would make the fort available to the refugees until they could think of what to do. He'd send a messenger to the Twin Strongholds to report what had happened, and said he would write letters.

Even though he had a smoother ride than the others on the Flying Ram, Tychos still needed help.

Alexander suggested they go back to the Dryad, to see if she could help Tychos. In Alexander's mind, Aiops was related to Tychos because he descended from nymphs.

"If she doesn't want to help… we'll be on our way to the Twin Strongholds, anyway! Isn't that where we're going to find another iatromancer?" his pupil recalled.

It wasn't much of a work to go out of the way a bit to ask Aiops if she could help, so Glax agreed.

This time, only Kal, Glax, and Alekos headed into the forest towards the borders with Erimos.

Smoke from the factory even reached this forest farther northwest, and the animals were restless. 

Glax didn't feel very comfortable either. He again had a mass-produced carbine for the Aegeons, and an ordinary spear to defend himself. It wasn't just his body that was exhausted, but the feeling that even his small victories always cost something painful.

He must have known that every Greek hero was bound to experience tragedy in their journey. 

When they got close to the sacred tree, the little dryad dashed towards them as soon as she saw them.

Or rather, ran to him as soon as she saw him.

'Ugh!' He pulled her head away from his leg a little, for the dryad had clung to his thigh as if it was a plank in the rough sea. "Calm down, Lady Aiops, everything is fine. The fire won't reach your sacred grove, rest assured."

"Oh! Good to know! Lord Glax! Did you solve everything?"

"YEA! Almost everything, actually. We guarantee those things won't happen again, and… I actually came here to…"

"Did you like my secret gift? Did you?" She cut him off, satisfied with the first part of Glax's response.

"Ah yes! Fruits and medicines! They were very helpful. Thank you, Lady Aiops! I made good use of the medicine, and the fruits were refreshing and delicious! Lord Glax gave it to me." Alekos explained with a smile.

"Hmm?! What?! Did you despise my gift, Glax of Valosia?!" She crossed her arms, her face red with anger, and her cheeks puffed out as her lips turned into a tiny streak.

Glax was alarmed and waved his hands in despair.

"Calm down, little one! It wasn't like that!!!"