-6- The Broken Machine (Pt. 1)

The silence of the night broke with the sound of grinding metal. Bosch darted up from his sleep just as it ended without the slightest hint of where it came from. It took a few moments for the dwarf to realize where he was at--a feeling he was very familiar with now. With the least amount of commotion, Bosch slipped his hand into his bag and felt around for his ball of light. Finding its smooth contours, he sat and waited Vwrrrrr... Bosch stood up, pulling the ball of light out such that he was temporarily blinded by the sudden brightness. The innroom was empty. He listened for a moment, but there was nothing but the sounds of the insects outside. Sitting back down, he covered the ball of light and leaned back against the wall with heavy eyes. Thinking about the sound, he could almost place it. It was a sound that reminded him of when he was young and working in the mines. The ore carts when full would travel with such momentum that the operator would have to apply the brakes, which made a rather awful noise, accompanied by the smell of charred leather. But then it didn't sound like grinding metal. What was it that he remembered? In later years, they brought in machines to do the mining, as the inhospitable conditions began to take their toll on the dwarves and their health. They were fashioned from metal and given humanoid shapes and sentience. To each was assigned a dwarf who would be in charge of maintaining them by keeping them properly oiled and enchanted with golem magics such that their nonmetal brains would not die. On occasion they would expel exhaust though a relief port on their backside. The smell was near unbearable, almost as unpleasant as the sound they made... Vrwwrrrr... The sound woke Bosch from his dreaming. There was no mistaking it: it was coming from beneath him and much fainter than the first two. Leaning down, Bosch put his ear to the cold wooden floor. The faint sound of clanking metal could be heard echoing from below. Bosch followed it as it moved towards the door and out into the tavern. Vwwrrr..rr..ckkk Feeling no malice, Bosch opted to knock against the floor. It was solid, suggesting there were no rooms beneath him. And then it knocked back. "Thrun? Fick?" a neutral voice called out from below. "Anyone up there?" Bosch was decidely puzzled at this new development. It's not every day voices call out from underground. "Umm...Do you need assistance?" he asked. "Do you need an assistant?" the voice replied. Bosch was taken back by the reply. "What if I say yes?" he asked. The sounds became louder and Bosch followed the movements outside where they made a beeline for the road. It traveled near as fast as his dwarven legs could carry him and he was quickly winded just as it stopped short of the Keep Woods. There the ground began to rumble as a mound of dirt rose up. In a few moments, a metal arm broke through, followed by another. A head poked out, and then a large metal body. As it heaved itself out of the hole, several bare rotors expelled dirt from its underarm. With a quiver, the loud noises ceased, and glowing eyes looked at Bosch from two skeletal sockets.