'CHINK... CHINK... CHINK...'
The sound had become the Fort's new heartbeat. It had replaced the constant roar of the forge as the background noise of their lives. It was slower, more deliberate, and somehow, much heavier.
Two days had passed since Tyla struck the stone for the first time.
The Wall of Memory was growing. The first line of Iris's cosmology was engraved:
DREAM = CREATION.
TIME + SPACE = CHILDREN.
Tyla worked with fanatic devotion. Her hands, already calloused from blacksmithing, were now raw, bandaged with leather strips Seiko had insisted she use. The recoil of the steel hammer on the steel chisel was brutal on her joints. It wasn't like soft iron; it was a vibration that rattled her bones.
But she didn't stop. When her hands shook too much, Iris took over. The Wise Woman's hand was less steady, her strikes less precise, but her will was just as strong. They were, letter by letter, turning breath into stone.
Seiko had divided his time. In the morning, he supervised Kael in the forge, where the focus had shifted from a few elite weapons to mass production.
"No more war spears," Seiko had ordered, to Kael's surprise. "Arrows. Hundreds of them."
"Arrowheads?" Kael scoffed. "Those little things? A warrior fights face to face."
"An engineer wins the battle before it begins," Seiko retorted, drawing a design in the packed dirt. "Your spear is a weapon. A thousand arrowheads are a force. They are terror. And the caltrops... they are terrain control."
While Kael and the other two Earth People warriors worked the forge, Seiko spent the afternoons at the Wall, not just observing, but optimizing.
'They are holding the chisel wrong,' he thought, watching Tyla pause to wipe away sweat. 'They are using too much force in the strike and not enough precision in the angle. They are wasting 40% of their energy.'
He approached. "Tyla, rest."
"I can keep going, Seiko."
"It wasn't a suggestion. It was an order," said Seiko, his voice firm but not cruel. He took the chisel from her trembling hand. "You don't honor (honour) Arceus by breaking your hands. You honor (honour) him by being better. Watch."
He placed the chisel at a lower angle. "The hammer does the work, Tyla. You just guide the tooth. Less force, more rhythm. Chink, chink, chink. Not CHINK... CHINK." He adjusted her grip. "Like breathing. Let the tool work. Don't force it."
While Seiko taught, Kael watched from a distance. The warrior was restless. His eyes weren't on the wall or the forge. They were fixed on the northern trail.
"It's been three days," said Kael, approaching Seiko. Tyla's chink, chink, chink continued, softer now, more efficient.
Seiko turned to him. "I know."
"Three days, Seiko. And two nights. Oran and Rikk aren't rookies. If they could send a message, they would have. If they could return, they would be here."
"What do you suggest, Kael? That I abandon the forge and the wall and go out looking for them?"
"I suggest we stop hitting rocks and finish the spears!" snapped Kael, his frustration finally boiling over. "Faith is good! The wall is beautiful! But faith didn't stop whatever found them. And the wall won't protect us if we are attacked tonight."
Seiko faced him. The tension made Tyla and Iris stop.
"The spears you have are iron. Ten times better than the stone ones you had last week," said Seiko coldly. "But they are useless if the enemy is numerous. What we are doing in the forge... the arrowheads... that will protect us against an army. And what we are doing on the wall, Kael... that is what gives us a reason to fight."
"It's hard to fight when you are dead," Kael grunted.
Before Seiko could respond, a sharp cry came from above.
"GEO-DUDE!"
It was the camp's Geodude, the one Kael had stationed on the cliff as a permanent sentry. He was waving his arms frantically.
Kael didn't wait. He sprinted from the forge clearing toward the cliff edge, with Seiko and Acies hot on his heels.
"There!" shouted Kael, pointing to the northern trail.
A lone figure stumbled through the trees. He moved erratically, falling, getting up, and falling again.
"It's Rikk," said Kael, his voice tense. "But... where is Oran?"
Kael jumped off the edge of the path, sliding down the scree to intercept the scout. Seiko and Acies followed, with Tyla and Iris right behind.
They reached Rikk as he collapsed for the last time. Kael turned him over gently.
The man was covered in blood. It wasn't his. He was clutching something wrapped against his chest, inside his leather tunic. But his face was pale with terror and exhaustion.
"Rikk, what happened? Where is Oran?" asked Kael, shaking him.
"Dead," gasped Rikk, his eyes unfocused. "Oran is dead. All... all dead."
"What? Bandits? A pack of Pokémon?" pressed Seiko, crouching down.
Rikk shook his head, the terror fresh in his eyes. "No... not bandits. They were... organized."
Seiko's heart stopped. 'Organized.'
"Smoke," whispered Rikk. "We saw smoke to the north, beyond the pass. Not like ours, Seiko. Theirs was... green. Thick green smoke. We went to investigate. It was a camp."
"How many?" asked Seiko.
"Many. Thirty... maybe forty. And they aren't like us. They wear... shiny metal. But not like yours. This is... pale. And they all dress the same."
'Bronze?' thought Seiko. 'No, pale metal. Tin? Pewter? Or... bad iron?'
"They saw us," continued Rikk, his voice breaking. "They were waiting for us. A trap. Oran... had one of your spears. It broke."
Kael's eyes snapped open and looked at Seiko.
"No," said Rikk, guessing the look. "The tip didn't break. The wooden shaft broke. The iron tip... went through the first man... but the second... had a Pokémon. One I had never seen."
Rikk shook violently. "It was... it was like a man, but made of... Circles? Spinning circles. It made a loud noise. And it shot... it shot iron from its arms."
Seiko's blood ran cold. 'Circles? Klink? Klang? Klinklang? Here?' That was... technology... 'Tech Pokémon should exist in this time period.'
"Oran told me to run," sobbed Rikk. "He told me to warn you. Seiko... Kael... they aren't bandits. They are soldiers. And they are marching here. They saw our smoke. The forge smoke."
Kael stood up slowly, his face a mask of controlled fury. He looked at Seiko, and this time there was no defiance in his eyes. Only a terrible certainty.
"You were right, Kael," said Seiko quietly, standing up too. "The patrols were more important."
"And you were right, Seiko," replied Kael, his voice hoarse. "We will need more than spears."
Rikk suddenly seemed to remember something. He reached his bloody hand into his tunic and pulled out what he had been protecting. It wasn't a weapon. It was a piece of cloth. A banner, torn from a pole.
He threw it on the ground.
It was made of fine silk, a luxury that didn't exist in these mountains. And in the center (centre), there was an emblem Seiko recognized instantly, not from this world's history, but from his own.
It wasn't a local tribe's symbol. It wasn't his father's emblem.
It was a European-style shield, and in its center (centre) was a rampant Dragon, divided into two halves: one white and one black.
Kael didn't understand it. Iris didn't understand it.
But Seiko did.
It wasn't a symbol of Creation. It was a symbol of Ideals and Truth.
"They aren't foreign invaders... Not entirely."
He looked at Iris. "They are the old world. They have come to claim what they think is theirs."
The chink, chink, chink of the Wall had stopped. The silence of the camp was absolute, broken only by Rikk's muffled weeping and the wind blowing from the north.
The wind that brought the smell of green smoke and steel.
[A/N: I took a few days off for some rest and vacation, so sorry for not updating. I'll be posting more chapters right now. Since I've been away for several days, I'll be uploading 11 chapters in a row this time. But on Patreon, I'll keep the usual 10 chapter advance, just like I originally planned. You're all welcome to check it out. I hope you have a wonderful day, afternoon, or night. patreon.com/Nemryz]