Steel and Mana

The first sign that something was off that morning was the change in the wind.

It wasn't her first day of winter, and Jila quickly grew accustomed to the cold of the Avalonian Pass, not even bothering with the early snowfall. But... Her nose began wrinkling that morning the first time she stepped out of the castle and onto the walls to find Lancelot. She quickly realized it was the howling wind coming from the Pass that hit her face and made her feel like it. At first, she thought she'd never stop shivering, which was the first indicator that this wasn't... just normal wind. She knew it was a warning. She trusted her gut feeling as she turned her head sharply, her eyes narrowing, gazing directly into the Pass from where the wind was blowing.

"What is it?" Lancelot asked, walking up beside her, noticing the change in her expression. He saw her coming immediately and was waiting for her usual loud call... but it wasn't happening that day. Which was weird. Walking up to her, his tone was casual, as most times, but his hand drifted toward the hilt of his sword, subconsciously picking up on her mood.

"I... Can't tell." Jila muttered while she squinted at the horizon. It was all snow, stone, and the clouded, grey sky. "It's probably nothing. Just the wind. It feels... different."

"Different is enough to be cautious," Lancelot said, his voice wary. Then, in a louder, more formal tone, he signaled down to a nearby watch officer. "Scouting units, come in. Squad 01, keep your eyes peeled, and I want a status report every fifteen minutes!"

Jila just smiled while listening to him, her eyes almost seeming to have heart-shaped pupils because she felt this was how a man was supposed to look and act. He listened to her hunch, took action, and acted firmly... It was everything she ever wanted. Watching Lancelot bark the orders, her fingers curled on the stone ledge as she turned around to be useful and not just a daydreaming lover and began scanning the white trail with sharp eyes. Minutes had passed in silence like this, and Jila was about to speak up again when Lancelot's communicator in his palm crackled to life.

"Contact! It is coming through now! Repeat! A massive target is approaching! Size estimate... forty meters!"

Jila didn't hear the rest as her blood turned to ice. It wasn't that hard coming to terms with the Avalonian units, not after she was shown in examples. But... trying to imagine it? Forty meters... Then it means it is as tall as the castle and walls altogether!

"Did it notice you?" echoed Kalash's voice through the comms, while Jila could see that he was already rushing to enter the Lion from where she was standing.

"Negative." The voice answered, delivering no fear in the process. "The beast is about to walk past our post. It seems we are not registering as danger, or it simply... doesn't perceive us. It is heading towards Squad 02's location on the opposite side."

"Try to mark it." Lancelot declared, "We will bombard it with the artillery before it reaches us."

"It will need softening." Another soldier answered while they stood on the observation platform, built upon the Pass's sides, connected by long zip lines.

"Agreed," Squad 01 added, "Its hide looks as if it is plated with jagged, rock-like scales. From its back, we can see multiple crystalline ridges that are clearly active with magical energy, going down to its tail. It is two-legged and slow-moving... But it has ample leg strength."

"Marking now." Squad 02 reported.

But, the moment the soldiers took out their devices to mark it for the howitzers and artillery, still multiple kilometers away at the castle, the beast stopped moving at once.

"It noticed us!" one of the soldiers said immediately, realizing that the marking process, the magic involved in it, was strong enough to make the beast 'see' them.

"Abort!" Lancelot and Kalash said it at once, but what came through the comms were distorted roars followed by a loud rumble.

Hearing it, Jila's knees buckled slightly, and Lancelot noticed it at once. Without a word, he stepped behind her and gently placed one hand under her armpits, pulling her up.

"Steady." He said while she didn't look at him, but she didn't pull away, nodding her head, finding her strength to stay upright.

"Sentry 02 reporting..." echoed the same voice again, a bit haggard but seemingly alive, "we were hit, but we are alright. Currently, we are buried under the snow, but by the vibrations, the beast has begun moving again. The moment we started marking it, it headbutted the mountain walls. Good thing we jumped..."

"This is Sentry 01; we see them! The beast is moving again!"

"Let it pass," Kalash ordered, "If you can, dig yourselves out; if not, stay put; the moment it's dead, we are coming for you."

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"Acknowledged. Sir... Good hunting."

"Don't worry. It will die soon!"

As it was happening, their end was already ready. Right now, only the Lion was present, defending this side of the Pass, but it wasn't alone. Besides the soldiers who were here, the number of cannons and artillery stations built into the walls of the mountains was staggering. And they were ready.

It didn't take long for the monster's groaning to echo between the walls as it got closer. When its silhouette appeared, Jila gulped, taking a step back from the edge.

"That's... huge," she whispered, her voice trembling a little.

"Yes," Lancelot agreed, a small smile hanging on his lips. "But it's nothing new, really. We've seen similar ones. This is one that my Father describes as the 'Godzilla' type."

"God's Zilla?" Jila asked, a bit confused, finding it hard to pronounce the new word.

"Something like that. Sometimes, he calls it Gojira. Don't ask why; whenever I tried to ask him why, he just laughed, saying it is just a funny accent..."

Jila was about to ask how he could remain so calm when the castle came alive around them. Well, more like the cannons did. Earth-shattering booms rang out from every side, ringing between the mountain walls like some aggressive orchestra as fire spells in the hundreds soared forward at once.

"Kyah?!" Jila yelled in a surprisingly girlish voice, holding her two hands to her ears, "Too loud!"

She groaned, squinting, watching as the barrage hit the monster, but not all of it. After the first few got through, splattering on its greyish-blue, rock-like hide, the spikes on its back began glowing, and a massive bubble appeared around it, blocking the rest.

"What now?" She asked, gulping, seeing it deflect their attacks, yet she couldn't take her eyes off the monster. It began moving again, taking slow steps, shaking the earth as it marched through the bombardment. She didn't realize she'd grabbed Lancelot's wrist until he gently shifted his hand to hold hers.

"Just watch. We are prepared for this."

"BREATH ATTACK!" someone screamed from below a moment later.

Jila flinched, but because Lancelot wasn't moving, she also stopped herself from panicking as the creature's maw cracked open. Inside, a glowing formation was already visible as a cone of cold light shot forward, freezing the moisture in the air as it passed, heading directly toward them. This time around, she did try to move away, but Lancelot held her firmly. Then, the air in front of the castle shimmered as a similar defensive shield appeared, just like the one the beast had used.

She watched as a wave of runes surged to life across the wall's front-facing side. Then, as the attack reached them, it was like an ice tsunami hitting the shores, slamming into it, cracking and breaking apart before falling to the ground.

"I can't believe it!" Jila gasped. "You blocked it..."

"Kinda," Lancelot hummed, "The next time, we should be ready to cancel it out before it has a chance to attack."

"What do you mean?" Jila asked, looking up at him.

"Grandfather, or the Lion in this case, should have all the information now to dispel the next time it tries it."

"Switch to physical bombardment!" Kalash said as if on cue, and the subsequent bombardment was different.

The explosions were deeper, Jila felt, and this time, instead of magic, she saw something else leaving the cannons. The monster saw it, too, and raised its defense... but it was futile. What flew towards him was not magic, but iron balls hurled through the air. The force they hit the monster made it stagger, almost falling backward as it continued to roar in pain. Some of its scales cracked, and some of the crystalline spikes, when hit, broke apart as its magical bubble flickered and disappeared.

"You hurt it!"

"The real show is just starting." Lancelot chuckled.

As if to answer him, the ground below them shook as Kalash began running out, holding a massive saber with two hands. It was made out of monster bone, almost the same size as the mech itself; the runes on it were alive, making the whole weapon crackle with blue lightning as he moved through the snow. Although the Lion was less than half of the beast's size, suddenly, it didn't matter. It was an advantage, even.

Seeing him running towards it, the beast roared again, trying to shield itself with its stumpy arms from the still-coming bombardment. It opened its mouth to attack the approaching Lion, but the spell, this time around, broke apart in its mouth, exploding and freezing it shut and muffling its primal, angry roar.

By then, Kalash was upon it. He maneuvered between its legs before using the spikes on its tail and back to scale the monster right up to its nape and stabbing his sword down with all the force he could muster. The bone-weapon, with its crackling electricity, cut through it, sinking deep, making it feel as if he was trying to stab a rock... but it was working. The arms of the Lion groaned under duress, but he kept pushing, and when it was halfway in, he used its machine's core to amplify the electricity, numbing and stunning the bastard.

"Keep firing!" Kalash ordered, as now, the monster's own body was paralyzed. With no way to react, it was simply standing there while physical and magical attacks hit its front, keeping the Lion 'safe,' hanging from its back.

"Incredible..." Jila covered her mouth, asking, "Is it... screaming?"

"Yes." Lancelot nodded, "It tries to, at least."

And it was trying. The beast attempted to retaliate, to break through the coursing electricity, lifting its head again and shattering the ice, then powering another breath attack. Yet, before it could charge it up, another wave of magical interference entered its mouth, causing the formation to explode once again... but this time, it was even more violent.

The creature staggered when it happened, and feeling it was the end, Kalash let go of the hilt of his sword, sliding down on its back just as it collapsed. The ground shook violently as its massive body hit the snowy ground, sending huge clouds of puffy snow and sharp ice into the air.

"Keep firing!" Kalash ordered, and the cannons kept bombarding the moaning, dying monster for almost ten minutes before they stopped.

"I almost pity it..." Jila muttered while she was still staring at the dead beast. It was then when the call came over the battlements.

"Confirmed: Target neutralized."

"That easy..." She mumbled. "I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it happen..."

"Took us some time to get to this stage," Lancelot answered, still holding her hand, gently squeezing it, watching as the retrieval had already begun. Halftrucks were speeding out of the main gate, going towards the Lion, which retrieved its weapon and started carving the corpse up, searching for its core. "This Pass is the most protected. As for the others... That is where the real danger lurks."

"Will they be okay?"

"Yeah." Lancelot nodded, "They will be."