Sounds of Change

-Gray-

It was rather clever, I had to admit.

Stage public singing events to attract attention of the most volatile believers of the prince’s ideology, along with the guards. And while they try to catch the singers, the rest of the movement can act more freely.

And here I was, while the vast majority of the guards were moving towards the palace to (likely) assault the princesses, I was carrying these large oblong stones with a few others.

Most carried just one over their heads. I wasn’t that strong (yet) so I just used magic to lift up two at a time.

The purpose of these stones?

“They’re sacred objects to us. A shared gift between believers of the earth goddess, and the sound goddess.” Said the older woman, old enough to be my… hmm… nevermind. I was following her through the city, with someone always placing a stone down before moving to keep an eye out ahead of us.

“Sound goddess? I never heard of a kingdom of sound.”

“You wouldn’t, for it doesn’t exist.” At my silence, she let out a quick laugh. “Some gods do not have the followers needed to create a country. Some are lucky enough to have a kingdom host them, while others are forced to wander forever. The goddess of sound is the former, since sound is important to both our peoples.”

“So I guess these stones help sound travel?”

“More than that, they strengthen and transfer the sound that hits them. With them, we can play for the whole city, all in one location.”

“Oh, so they’re like speakers…” Interesting…

“Pardon?”

“Nevermind. So we’re placing the stones to transfer our prayers everywhere in the city?”

“Further beyond the city. Our song will travel down every tunnel, reach every village and town within the mountain.” She said with a smile and a far-off look before she stopped walking. “Place one here.”

We were at the very edge of the city, very few of us left. A tunnel laid ahead of us.

When I placed one rock down, the woman lightly tinked it with a sizable hammer, causing the rock to almost melt into the tunnel walls before it settled in place, like a speaker embedded in a wall.

I guess bloodline is less important in this country than who the goddess chooses. Quite a few members of this ‘resistance’ are descendants of rulers from long ago, and still have divine blood, as diluted as it was.

“Okay, you gentlemen, take the tunnels down the way, we’re going to take this tunnel. Remember our meeting location.” She directed the rest of us, before gesturing for me to follow her.

“What’s down this tunnel?”

“A couple small settlements. We don’t need to place the stones within their towns, just place them at splits in the path, and trust the sound to reach them. There shouldn’t be any guards either, but keep on your guard. Monsters can be tricky.”

Ooh, am I finally going to see some proper monsters, not just raiders? I wonder what kind I’d see?

Judging from the echoing sounds of digging only getting louder as we go deeper, I would guess some kind of tunneler. Maybe giant moles or a rock-eating worm!

No… wait, the sounds were… in a specific rhythm. Not a rumbling like someone was digging, but more like… countless creatures acting in unison.

“Do people mine within these tunnels?” It felt like a dumb question, but the only activities I could think match up to this sound would be dozens of tools striking in rhythm.

“Mine? No, not in the western tunnels. Mining projects are done in the east, currently.” She stopped to listen to the sounds. “It’s likely the locals, those bugs love to dig holes in walls.”

A sense of dread was building within me. It didn’t sound like bugs making nests, or monsters burrowing through solid stone…

“One left. Let’s hurry up and place it, and get out of here. I’d rather not deal with the locals.” She ushered me along when she placed her stone down. The way she was moving, no longer leading but instead nearly pushing me forward from behind, her eyes flickering from side to side.

By now, the rhythmic sounds have been getting louder, and smaller, less coordinated sounds became more apparent.

If the louder noises sounded like ‘clang!’ in unison, then these quieter noises sounded like ‘ting-tang!’ in a discordant harmony. Not to mention a constant ‘whirr.’

It was only when I was close enough to hear the chittering of movement, and the low groans of golems, that I was piecing things together.

Forgoing caution, I rushed forward, the rock I was levitating moving behind me to create a bit of distance between me and the woman. Shadowy light was spilling out of a tunnel further ahead, so that’s where I checked.

A large room, brimming with writhing shadows that expanded the space.

A dozen fur-cloaked followers of Shadows walking around with whips in hands.

Hundreds of stone golems lining up against the walls.

More being constructed in seemingly endless lines.

Water rushing through to the end of the tunnel, fueling a giant water jet cutter, carving large cubes out of the stone.

And an unimaginable amount of spider-people with torsos chained, chiseling golems out of stone, carrying said stones, while others enchanted said golems.

I’ve never seen spider-people before. They were like centaurs, but with spider bodies instead. And there were many different kinds here. Chitinous ones with black or brown coloring and long legs. Furry ones with bulky bodies. Small ones capable of jumping around.

And they were all chained up. Like cattle.

No… like slaves…

“What… what is this?” I held back my sneer as I asked the woman following me. No one noticed me standing at the ‘door’ to the room, maybe due to the layer of shadows covering the hole, likely blocking intruders… but not sight.

The woman didn’t seem particularly willing to peak through the wispy shadows, but she didn’t seem very affected.

“Eh, just the local monsters doing whatever. Probably some pagan ritual. It isn’t our problem, anyways. Just place the stone down further ahead, and we can leave.”

“Leave?” I seethed. “These people are slaves! They’re making the very forces the Trifecta uses against good people! How can you ignore that?!”

“It doesn’t matter. Our job is to place the stones. Nothing else.” She reached out and pulled the stone I was levitating out of my orange magical field. “Besides, spiders are creepy. No one will miss them.” The woman walked ahead, undisturbed by her words.

I see…

I should have expected this.

In a world where ‘useful’ non-humans are called ‘demihumans,’ those who aren’t ‘useful’ are considered ‘monsters.’

I tried to ignore it for a while. I mean, ‘demihuman’ is a term I’ve seen in fantasy stories. It doesn’t always have to be derogatory. Fulgora didn’t consider it much of an insult. And sometimes, even ‘monsters’ was a perfectly acceptable term for a wide range of different sentient species.

But if a species is sentient, then chaining them up against their will is slavery.

Maybe slavery is legal here. I don’t know. I hadn’t encountered it yet in this world.

However!

I don’t care that it’s illegal.

I don’t care that I’m applying the laws of my world here.

Slavery is wrong, and I refuse to ever sit back and let people get their freedom taken from them!

I know how important freedom is. I wished every day for the freedom to have my body back! And my chains were just genetic!

But this… this is people actively restraining others to work in a sweatshop! Taking away the right of the healthy to live their lives as they see fit, for good or bad!

The laser left my hand the moment I made up my mind.

The woman had just enough strength to look back at me with shock, before she collapsed.

Maybe she would have survived, but the stone falling on top of her made me doubt it.

With magic, I picked up her body and the rock, and used my free hand to blast open the shadowy barrier with a flash of light.

“If you’re going to enslave people…”

I tossed the woman’s body at the nearest scumbag. I didn’t hold back with my force either, as the man likely broke some bones from being smushed by the stronger woman.

“Then you’re going to get no mercy from me!” My voice resonated along the speaker stone as I threw it across the room, striking the water jet cutter, but not doing much damage.

My opponents were a bunch of Shadow-worshipping thieves and killers.

My threats were an untold amount of golems.

My obstacles were countless spiders chained in place.

It was obvious what I needed to do first.

Spikes of earth shot up from the ground in a straight line from where my hands slammed against the stones beneath me. The guards could easily dodge, but it was aimed at the chains along the center of the room.

One by one, chains popped and broke off, loud snaps echoing through the room.

My arms were shaking just from that much power, but I still had more to do. Not all spiders were chained up together, and a few were attached to special golems to allow more movement for carrying supplies.

So I jumped into the fray, a room filled with golems activating, and thieves mobilizing. “Run or die, I don’t care, just get out of my way!” I roared at the spiders, sending them scurrying about, creating chaos on the field. Most were large enough that even just by running, they were actively interfering with the golems moving towards me.

Some even focused on freeing the other spiders.

“Monsters my butt…” As I skewered a man with an ice spear, I glanced at a red-haired tarantula-esque woman saving a small jumping spider-esque child who didn’t resemble the woman at all.

As far as I was concerned, they were living people like everyone else.

Now my problem was dealing with the slavers and the golems.

Golems were still tricky to fight, since they could reform themselves. Previously, all I needed to do was blast them apart once or twice and let them waste time reforming while I ran.

But now I could see how golems were made, and spy for weaknesses!

Which… they didn’t have…

There were magical cores, looking like a marble in the shape of a heart, that got put into the golems. But the cores dissolve into every stone that comprises the golem, which is why they can reform from even the smallest rocks of their body.

So my only choice was to blow them up and hope that I can either destroy enough of their mass to effectively take them out of the fight, or cause so much rubble to build up around the room that the golems trap themselves, and I can escape.

“Grr…” I growled as I got pelted from three separate directions by pebbles. Standing around was doing me no favors.

I ran towards one slaver, keeping low and letting pebbles fly over me, my left hand was ripping open my torso to pull out the stones so I could heal, and my right created a sawblade of sharp wind. The slaver’s screams became choked with blood as he was bisected.

The spiders were beginning to flee, and I needed to secure their escape first!

Charging up explosions in my hands, I endured a sneak attack from a slaver while I blasted holes in the cave walls, giving the spiders options to escape. Blood leaked from my mouth, staining my wide smile red.

My life was in serious danger. This wasn’t a wide open area where I could run around and whittle away my enemies. I was surrounded, with no back up, no plan, and I was loving it!

“HAHA! Bring it on! I’ll make you regret messing with me!” I laughed, grabbing the slaver who stabbed me and exploding her from the inside out with a spell.

My left leg buckled under the pressure of pebbles striking me, but I created a wall of ice to buy time for my next spell.

The ice was thick, but barely held back the onslaught. Cracks began forming upon the first volleys.

“Too many spiders scurrying about for me to spray acid everywhere. I’ll use…” Purple spheres appeared in my hands, and the moment the ice shattered around me, the gravity increased in the room tenfold, all except for my little safe zone around me.

The spiders would be able to endure, the golems’ pebbles would lose strength, and the slavers?

Three minutes. The spell fizzled out three minutes later. Every slaver was not going to be getting up. All the golems harassing the spiders were attacked from a distance, while the golems focusing on me slowly tried to approach. But barriers of ice and stone kept them at bay.

“Spiders are gone. Now it’s time to end this.” I’ve barely made a dent in the golem army, so the least I could do was stop the production. Beginning with the water jet cutter in the back.

And there were hundreds of golems between me and it.

My kind of challenge.

I didn’t need to run on the ground, just jump from golem to golem, enduring every stray pebble that struck me. My spells wouldn’t allow a barrier that could move at an uneven rate, beyond whatever rocks I could grab with magic, and there was no guarantee that any rock I grabbed wasn’t a golem ready to fire at me.

So I just ran, charging up a big explosion in both of my hands. I needed to make sure it hit. I needed to make sure the water jet was destroyed for good. Even at my own peril.

The moment I got close to the cutter, I jumped, the explosion in my hands the size of a basketball and I’d be lying if I didn’t imagine this like trying to make a slam dunk.

My spell melted through the outer metal layer of the machine just by pressing it up to it, and when I was sure I had a good shot at the core, I threw the explosion, and dove backwards.

“Ten seconds…” I focused on the golems, quickly analyzing the quickest way to move, and figured that throwing a rock I was on would be my best bet. The speaker stone should have been around here…

It both worked, and didn’t.

I zoomed over the army of golems shooting at me, but the rock I was on was not the speaker stone. And to make matters worse, it still had stones hanging from it, which proceeded to wrench my right arm almost clean off, twisting it like a candy wrapper, with no intention to let go when we skidded to a stop close to the exit.

“Argh…” I bit back my scream, writhing in pain as the golem I was using tried to mimic a heavy duty shredder, pulling me towards the mass of moving rocks beneath us. “Fine, you want to play dirty, I’ll show you-” Right as I was charging my ultimate spell in my hand, the explosion went off, sending shrapnel everywhere.

In the chaos, with the whole cave shaking, threatening to come down on our heads, I felt something wrap around my body, ripping me free and flying to the cave entrance.

As soon as the doorway was clear, a wall of webs was thrown up by nearly a dozen spiders, while a few pulled me down the tunnel on their backs. And the facility’s collapse shook the mountain. The sounds of rushing water echoed through the tunnels.

I only hoped the cores got destroyed in the process.