Page 17 of The White Dragon Revealed

“Is someone else controlling them?” Chione asked. “Or are they on some kind of self-protection program?”

“Unclear,” Mei said through clenched teeth as she furiously tried to control her creations. “They are programmed to protect themselves in a fight, but I have ordered them to not do so.”

“And they are not listening. Then they must be stopped in another way,” Valerius said.

He knew the hellfire of Raziel rolled through his eyes because Chione gave out a slight gasp. Mei’s head jerked up and she realized what was going to happen. Her lips parted.

“Wait--wait--wait! Give me more time!” Mei reached for his shoulder.

Valerius shrugged her off and turned. “There is no more time, Mei. You should never have brought them here.”

Valerius allowed the fire to build up inside of him, to fill his veins, his heart, his head, all of him was suffused with hellfire.

Burn them!Raziel roared in excitement.

Valerius opened his mouth and thrust his hands forward. Raziel opened its mouth at the same time. And its hellfire flowed throughhim. A stream of fire so hot that it was blue white streamed from him and engulfed the backs of the robots nearest to him. They immediately melted, pooling into molten metal around the feet of their fellow soldiers. Robots turned back towards him, realizing that there was an enemy behind them as well as in front. As they turned, he moved his head towards them and the fire followed. He smothered them with fire too.

Laser blasts streaked towards him from the robots on the other side from his flames. They were racing towards him, firing. One blast skimmed his right arm, but there was no searing line of heat. He was fireproof. Other blasts hit his torso and legs. It was like being punched. He staggered back a step but then regained his footing before swinging his head towards his attackers.

Metal flowed like liquid across the stone floor. Fluids turned instantly into steam, shattering the soldiers’ torsos and limbs.One managed to race towards him, right arm slagged, left arm raised to strike him. Valerius grabbed it around the throat and breathed fire into its face. It melted away in his hands.

When there were no more laser blasts coming his way and he heard no clank of metal feet on stone did Valerius close his mouth and quench the flames. He looked at the aftermath. The stone floor was mostly obscured by slag, which still smoked and glowed. It was cooling quickly. Most of the cells were completely obliterated or filled with that metal. The whole of this part of the dungeon was destroyed and it would take a long time to restore it. Not that he had many prisoners down here. Thankfully, there had been none at this time or they would have been dead. Only Mei’s soldiers had filled this space.

There was a sound from Mei. He looked over at her. She crouched down at the forward edge of the pool of metal and touched it. Her face crumpled and she looked like she would cry for a moment.

“You cry over a bunch of metal?” Valerius hissed. “My Claw could have been killed! My dungeon is a ruin! You will pay for--”

He did not get anything more out as he heard a clank of metal feet coming from the choke point. He had forgotten that the robots had been fighting someone. He had assumed it was Adama, but he hadthought that Adama had been slagged with the rest of them. It had not. It emerged from the choke point carrying the head and torso of one of its brethren. Hellfire built in Valerius again.

Chione cried, “Wait! It’s not aggressive.”

Valerius was about to growl that he didn’t care when Adama approached him and knelt on one knee just as it had in the throne room. It offered the head and torso of the other robot as if it was a sacrifice. Valerius scowled.

“For me? Why? You can see that I have made my own trophies. They are melted all over my floor. Perhaps I should do the same to you,” Valerius said.

“King Valerius, I have done this to protect you and yours,” Adama spoke in that mechanical voice that showed little emotion.

“From what?” Valerius couldn’t be that upset about the loss of Mei’s soldiers, but the destruction of his dungeon could not be born.

I wish to slag it! Let me slag it!Raziel wheedled, not caring about this “protecting” business. They needed no protection from anyone! Had their demonstration not shown that?

Mei and Chione were suddenly at his side. Mei was glowering at Adama as if she wanted to slag it herself.

“Why did you do this?” She snapped. “Why did you attack your brothers?”

“They are not my brothers. I serve King Valerius and these others serve you,” Adama said.

Valerius lifted an eyebrow. He was starting to like this Adama. Maybe a little. Mei blinked and then reared back as if to slap the robot. But she curled her hand into a fist at the last moment and dropped her arm to the side.

“Adama, what do you want Valerius to see in that robot’s corpse?” Chione asked.

“May I rise, King Valerius?” Adama asked.

“Yes, you may. Be very careful what you do, Adama. As you can see, my hellfire can destroy you easily,” Valerius warned.

The robot rose to its feet then neatly twisted the head from the “dead” robot’s body and showed him the inside. There was a cylinder.Valerius stiffened. Though he did not know what that cylinder was nor how these robots were made, he knew that cylinder had no business there. Mei looked and gave out a gasp.

Echoing his thoughts, she cried out, “That should not be there! I do not know what that is!”

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