The Wyrms of &alon

The Vvz'zsh's fleet of sky-whale circled high over Dz'zrt'zt, hidden above a cyanide thunderstorm. The Passaged tchn't'ts dipped into the storm every now and then, to feed on the aeroplankton and drink up Charge—lifelight—from the storm itself.

I rode along with Lark, Dzrtk, and Tk'tk'tk the T'dzd'ch defector. We'd made our way across the Ch'chk'k'vz (Chichuc-K'viz) Mountain range to the broad, richly populated Zrt'rt (Zurturt) Plains hat the Dominion's capital called home.

Unlike the tchn't't whose body Dzrtk had commandeered in our escape from T'kznd, the Vvz'zsh's transport tchn't'ts had windshields on their back.The latter were part of the whales' harnesses, as were the networks of easily gripped handles, and the tunnel-like tents, all of which made this trip far less harrowing than my first tchn't't, save for two exceptions: the battle currently playing out down below, and the strange attack Lark and I endured in the middle of the ride.

It came upon us suddenly. Out of nowhere, pain wracked our bodies, sprawling us onto the tchn't't's back as our limbs twitched in agony. It didn't last for long, but even that was already too much for me. The seizure's end happen to bring an explanation along with it, as a single word thunder clapped through my mind in the middle of the glittering pain-haze:

ERADICATE!

Well, fudge. There was no mistaking what that meant, just as there was no doubt in my mind that Nina and Suisei had probably just experienced it along with us. Looking down at the battlefield, I desperately hoped that Suisei and Nina hadn't been harmed while the seizure had left them briefly incapacitated.

"What happened?" Dzrtk asked me.

"The four of us didn't exactly take the 'conventional' route getting here," I said. "If I had to take a guess, it's the Network trying to push us out."

"Why?" Dzrtk asked.

"It's a long story," I said.

I just hoped it wouldn't happen again—at least not anytime soon.

We wore Vvz'zsh hooded cloaks, as did the warriors on the backs of the other tchn't'ts flying in formation alongside us. There were nearly a hundred of us, spread among six whales, with more waiting in the wings.

We'd been going over the plan in extra detail while we waited for Phase 2 to begin, our brief seizure-based interruption notwithstanding.

"It's simple," Dzrtk said. "Once the fossil rays are neutralized, we'll dive through the storm. The tchn't'ts will drop us onto the Palace."

"And then the whales will start ramming shit with those hammerheads of theirs, right?" Lark said.

"Is Vvz'zsh combat always this brutal?" I asked.

"It is what it is," Dzrtk replied.

Tk'tk'tk waved zyr stinger side to side. "But, remember, no matter what anyone else does, our objective is to get to the Treasury as quickly as we can. It's in the Palace of the Hierarchs. That's the largest building in the whole city. You can't miss it."

"You don't need to remind me," Lark said.

We were just waiting for the signal. However, with all the light shows and pyrotechnics going on down below, I'd been getting worried we wouldn't be able to tell when Phase 2 was supposed to begin.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

All of a sudden, the light building at the two freeze rays on the city's southern wall cut out as the weapons got blown sky high.

Lark cursed. "Holy shit!"

There was fire in the explosion's core—like an ember, but impossibly bright to my D'zd vision—but that flame paled in comparison to the steam and debris. It was as if every molecule in the corners of the wall where the guns were mounted had suddenly gone frothing mad and leapt free of their bindings.

Dzrtk yelled. "Hold on!"

I doubled my grip, letting my lower pair of hands join my upper ones in grabbing onto one of the harness' ropy handles.

A pair of mushroom clouds blasted up through the clouds like geysers, forcing the tchn't'ts to make evasive maneuvers. Molten chunks of liquefied concrete spewed arced through the air like the T'dzd'ch's bombs.

Another tchn't't's rider raised zyr head and yelled. "That's the signal!"

"We're going in!" shouted another.

The Passaged whales bellowed out their war cries and angled downward. Flicking their tails and pulling in their wings, they dove into the storm. Nitrogenous hydrocarbon grains streamed over the tchn't'ts' mossy hides as we broke through the underbelly of the storm. Once the particle streams cleared, we had a front-row, bird's-eye view of the battle below.

A sea change was in the works.

I recognized Srrt'zt'krr's Passaged brzht mount by the ornate designs on the roof of its howdah. Vvz'zsh warriors charged at the Puppeteers behind the enemy's panicking lines by climbing up the massive brzht and leaping off its flanks, propelling themselves over their enemies' heads with Chant-powered jumps.

Suisei and Nina formed a natural duo, fighting abdomen to abdomen against the T'dzd'ch puppet hordes.

The battle was a rout.

Condensing ammonia and hydrocarbons and shattered debris rained down from the billowing clouds towering over the battlefield at either corner of the city's southern wall.

The aerial view of the city was simply incredible. Dz'zrt'zt was like T'kznd on steroids. Decorated towers with twirled tops stood guard, looking down on the reefs of ceramic buildings below. Hexagonal tiles paved the street, glistening with songful light in the rays of the morning sun. And Tk'tk'tk was right: there was no way to miss the Palace of the Hierarchs. It sprawled over the heart of the city like an otherworldly octopus, festooned with arches and sweeping curves that extruded onto the streets.

There was also a rather impressive statue of EUe in the middle of the city's biggest open space.

Puppet soldiers ran down the streets, toward the city's southern gate where the Vvz'zsh forces had amassed.

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Rooftops and awnings ballooned in size as our tchn't'ts barreled toward the ground.

"Brace yourselves!" Dzrtk said.

Closer. Closer.

The tchn't't suddenly pulled up, flattening out its flight path. We flew through the two columns of steam rising off the ruined freeze rays. The T'dzd'ch defenders on the wall howled curses at us as we soared clear over them. Some of the soldiers ran like mad and tried to leapt at us, but our Passaged tchn't't darted up at just the right moment, leaving our attackers with nothing but empty air.

Without the freeze rays, there was nothing the Dz'zrt'zt's defenders could do to stop us.

"On my call, jump!" Dzrtk said. "And grab the wall!"

Even as ze said it, Vvz'zsh soldiers were already jumping off their whales all around us. Our fighters landed on the city streets, and on awnings and rooftops. Some dug their limbs into walls and skidded to a stop while the backs of their torsos were still parallel to the ground.

Several whales hied close to ours, their troops not yet deployed. With flicks of their tails and wings, they swam toward the Palace of the Hierarchs. The rest, however, banked in wide curves and turned around. Freeze rays on the other side of the city fired at them, but the tchn't't easily dodged the icy magic. The guns just weren't properly positioned to strike them.

Turning my head, I watched the other tchn't't pass through the twin columns of steaming ammonia and fly back out onto the battlefield, only to double back again. But as soon as the whales had crossed the walls, they reversed direction once more, like bombers coming in for another run. They bellowed, and their songs were bulkheads of light that dazzled past our flowers as they issued forth.

The second wave of tchn't'ts broke through the clouds overhead, descending toward the battle.

The T'dzd'ch screamed.

Using their hammerheads and the sheer mass of their bodies, the whales of the first wave slammed into Dz'zrt'zt's southern wall like flying wrecking balls—and a whole fleet's worth of them. They plowed through the Dominion's concrete, clearing a broad hole, cascading grainy spall and cooling ammonia steam onto the streets. The city's catapults crumpled like crushed tinfoil while D'zd splattered like insects against a sledge.

"Thar she blows!" Lark said.

Dzrtk yelled. "Get ready!"

I turned straight ahead right as the first wave of tchn't'ts were set to plow into the Palace's wall. The whales pulled up. Gravity yanked us back.

"Jump!" Dzrtk yelled.

We did.

The Palace's looming walls flickered past me like a skyscraper at high speed. Just as Dzrtk had instructed, I dug all eight of my limbs into the wall. The impact juddered through my body, droplets of fluid spraying from my fingers instead of sparks. Had I been human, the force and the friction would have snapped my limbs like twigs. Fortunately, D'zd bodies were made of far sturdier stuff.

The four of us grounded to a halt on the side of the Palace, dozens of feet in the air.

Then everything shook. Tchnt'ts bellowed.

I looked up.

Angel's breath…

Our whales rammed into the Palace wall at a steep, upward angle, breaking through the concrete with sheer momentum, casting debris onto the streets below. The whales continued moving up until they punched a hole clear through the roof. More debris followed in their wake, spraying up from the hole and arcing toward the city.

More and more Vvz'zsh skidded to a stop to our left and right. The warriors glanced at Dzrtk and then began climbing toward the hole in the Palace wall.

"C'mon," Dzrtk said. "Let's move!"

It was a struggle to differentiate my lower and upper sets of limbs as I started my climb. My stinger twitched, and for a moment, I thought I was going to fall.

No!

I hadn't had a D'zd's wall-climbing prowess when I'd climbed up the side of West Elpeck Medical!

I could do this!

Lark and I scrambled upward, following after Dzrtk, Tk'tk'tk and the others. We clambered over the hole's jagged edge.

Entering the Palace, we found a column of wind blowing through the two gaping holes the tchn't't had left in the ceiling, dispersing the debris clouds. Shards of broken concrete fell from the holes overhead while dust particles in the air scattered light in confusing ways. Everyone stuck close together, huddling near the entry hole as we figured out where we were.

Behind us, the final wave of tchn't'ts plowed through the clouds.

My God…

Gasps broke out across the group moments later.

I turned around.

The room was tall, like the inside of a jug. The floor and walls were covered in D'zd chairs, spaced slightly apart, to give room to walk around and between them, with a path crisscrossing at the center of the room. The D'zd in the chairs were naked and utterly motionless, though the Charge still flowing through their bodies indicated that they weren't dead. Glyphs had been carved into their torsos and abdomens, and hummed with baleful intent.

There were shelves and cubbies built on blocky prisms that stuck up from the floor and wall. Their empty spaces bore gruesome tools: slender, serrated blades, and metal needles as long as our arms with tips so sharp, they shined with singing light. Dried fluids stained the floors in patches of altered albedo. Sections of the walls and ceiling glowed in a dull light that filled the room with a low, guttural hum that not even the daylight whistling through the hole in the wall could fully overcome.

"What is this place?" I asked, in soft-spoken horror.

Tk'tk'tk's footsteps pitter-pattered on the stone floor. "It's a [Puppeterium]," ze said, turning around in the center of the room. "Undesirables and criminals are brought to them to have their souls ripped from their bodies."

Lark walked up to one of the bodies. "Are they dead?"

"I wish they were," Tk'tk'tk replied. The d'zd shook zyr limbs. "Please, we shouldn't linger here. The Palace's Puppeteers frequently spend time here experimenting with new techniques. I wouldn't want to be here when that happens."

A hallway branched off to the left, rising at a low angle. The path we were on rose along the wall ahead of where it met another door.

I heard indistinct voices from the hallway to the left.

And I wasn't the only one; the Vvz'zsh warriors drew their scissorblades.

Dominion soldiers stormed down the hallway, yelling battle cries. Our forces charged in, meeting them at the mouth of the hallway.

The two groups of warriors clashed in a bottlenecked fight.

Tk'tk'tk kept glancing at the door on the other side of the room. "We can't let them keep us pinned down like this!" ze said. "Every moment counts. If reinforcements arrive, we won't be able to overcome them!"

I could have tried lobbing a blast of frigid air at the Dominion's soldiers, but there wasn't enough space to do so safely. At this range, my thermomancy would have taken out my allies along with my enemies. I could have also tried to hit only individual targets, but I didn't have enough faith in my aim or control. It was just too risky.

Wait, I realized.

I was being stupid.

Narrowing my flower to block out distracting light-sounds, I wove together the pataphysics I'd learned from Nina.

I kept telling myself it would be just like practicing the clarinet.

I focused on my mental muscle memory.

I turned to Lark. "Lark, pull our guys back!"

"What?"

"Magic it!" I said.

"Everyone," I yelled, "duck!"

The Vvz'zshs' heads turned to face me, flowers narrowing in confusion.

Fudge.

I guess I should have said, "Get down."

Oh well.

Power blossomed at my fingertips.

Lark hopped backward as she cast her spell.

Much to their surprise, our fighters were summarily yanked down and back. That cleared some much needed floor space between our forces and the enemy. The T'dzd'ch soldiers staggered off balance as their blows cut through empty air.

I threw my magic at them.

Critical hit. Please be a critical hit…

My spell roared through the hallway like an uncorked typhoon. The T'dzd'ch barely had time to scream. Their bodies froze in place, thinning in some spots as ammonia crystalized in others, bloating their tissues like so many kidney stones. They twitched uncontrollably, but only for a moment. A dozen or more arms snapped off the dead D'zds' torsos, no longer capable of supporting their scissorblades' weight.

Just like Nina had shown me, I then inverted the weave like it was an interval of notes. In an instant, cold turned to heat, though I made sure to dampen the magic's strength. I didn't want to drown us in melted walls.

The dead soldiers' bodies collapsed and fell apart.

The Vvz'zhs commanders yelled. "Forward! Forward!"

The troops started marching into the hallway, only for one of the soldiers to look off to the side and yell. "Zvz'st'k, behind us!"

"Zhn'nt, get down!" Dzrtk said.

I barely turned my head around before Dzrtk pushed me down to the floor with an arm, thrusting forward to speed zymself toward the tables.

I looked up.

Dzrtk's swords sliced through a naked D'zd that had thrown itself onto zym while stabbing its stinger-tail.

"Shit!" Lark yelled. "Shit!"

The two of us huddled up against the wall.

The Puppets were coming to life.