Tearha: Titan War

Chapter Fourteen: The Eighth Plague

They stepped out of the cavern for the first time in over a day. Though dimmed brown and red by the Tainted sky, the light of the noon was still bright enough to cause Adelle to squint after readjusting her eyes from the darkness. It was the first time she saw the Taint from within the continent. Where it was a rust-grey blob from afar, it looked akin to storm clouds of fire from the middle of the land. Occasionally, portions of the sky would light up in bright orange flames. Luce explained it was the rust in the air sparking off each other and igniting the metallic dust.

Standing within visible distance of the base of Reveries Mountain, the Titan's Graveyard stretched south and southeast expansively. The flat basin was littered with the bodies of mechs and golems as old metallic machines and drooping stone arches. In the far south, a pile of maybe 5 or 6 of the giants' bodies looked as if they had fused together to form a small mount.

Rumbling.

Adelle turned towards to sound from the west. A line of 5 golems ten times her height and as wide and long as mansions crawled across the landscape on all fours, hunched on their backs. Aside them, the groups of soldiers were barely ants, scrambling around the large moving creatures.

"Varicks," Josh noted. "Excavator golems meant for clearing mines. See the front legs with its shovel-like hands? Those things can dig up vast chunks of land and they are reinforced to take the blasts of explosions."

Luce asked, "So are they mine clearing?"

"No. That road isn't used by any army. Probably just sent out to scout or something," Talia answered. "Not our problem, and definitely not mine with such worthless information. We have to get to Altaro, she gestured to the horizon. It's a small town where we can resupply and we're about three days away with only two days worth of food left."

Adelle sighed. It was definitely getting hotter and less humid the further south they went. Her lips were cracking and she was sweating much more than she expected. Luce and Josh seemed to have adapted much faster to the dry, barren climate, likely due to having lived on the continent for extended years.

For about an hour, they made their way down the mountain in silence, occasionally glancing over towards the golems which had started digging the dirt of the land. Then she noticed a bulge of men sized figures moving across the landscape towards the Titans.

"Hey," she called out. "What's that?"

Josh raised a curious brow. From his large bag, he pulled out a telescopic telescope and trained it on the group.

"Huh. It's the Pyrerai."

Talia added in confusion, "That can't be right. The Pyrerai never leaves the city." She snatched the telescope from his grasp and followed the view. "Well I'll be damned. It really is her. Barely see it, but I won't miss that bombastic cloak anywhere."

Luce asked, "What does this mean?"

"It means," Talia began excitedly as she lowered the telescope. "That once I've delivered you to Altaro, I'm heading back to report this to Eca and getting me a cart of credits!"

"Just hold your horses," Josh said. "You can't just-"

"What are horses?" Talia cut in, returning the telescope.

"I-that doesn't matter right now! You can't just leave us midway."

"I'm not leaving you midway. It's more like a quarter."

"Talia!"

"Don't worry. I know another Guide that's currently in Altaro. I'll pass you off to him and then I'll get off!"