Vulcan's Retreat

Vulcan's Retreat
Vulcan's POV

My metal fist crushed the control panel as I watched the girl choose love over power.
"Foolish little whelp," I growled, my voice like grinding gears in the silence of my command center. Around me, a hundred mechanical troops awaited orders, their red eyes glowing in the darkness.
Through the watching portal, I could see everything happening in that pathetic grove. The Moon Goddess speaking through Elara's mouth. The fear on everyone's faces as they learned about the Crimson Devourers. And that moment when the girl chose to stay human instead of taking the power she needed to survive.
"Weakness," I spat, sparks flying from my metal teeth. "Pure, sentimental weakness."
My officer, a seven-foot-tall war machine I'd built myself, turned its head toward me. "Should we strike now, Lord Vulcan? While they're distracted?"
I was tempted. So very tempting. But I hadn't lived for three thousand years by being reckless.
"No," I rumbled, my huge hands working at the tactical display. "The Crimson Devourers change everything. If they're truly coming to this realm, we need to adapt our plans."
The truth was, I'd been watching this pathetic play unfold for weeks. The rejected omega who became a Luna Priestess. The evil twin from the Void. The dark coven head who thought he was so clever.
All of them were fools.
But they were handy fools. Their chaos had weakened the barriers between dimensions, and that gave me chances I'd been waiting centuries for.
"Sir," another mechanical voice spoke from across the room. "Our sensors are picking up huge energy signatures from the grove. The reality tears are spreading."
I turned my bright orange eyes toward the main screen. The blood-red cracks were indeed getting larger. And through them, I could sense something that made even my old metal heart skip a beat.
The Devourers weren't just coming. They were almost here.
"Fascinating," I whispered, stroking my iron beard. "Three thousand years I've waited for a chance to study beings that powerful. And now..."
I paused, a plan forming in my mechanical mind.
The girl had decided to stay human. Which meant she'd be dead within the year, destroyed by power she wasn't strong enough to handle. But before that happened, she'd be fighting for her life against cosmic horrors.
Perfect.
"Change of plans," I stated to my army. "We're not attacking today. We're retreating."
A choir of confused mechanical sounds filled the command center.
"But sir," my lieutenant protested, "our troops are in position. We could take the Luna Priestess while she's weak."
"And then what?" I snapped, my voice booming like thunder. "Fight the Crimson Devourers ourselves? Even I'm not that bold."
I stood up from my command chair, all ten feet of my metal frame creaking with age and power. Through the portal, I watched Elara accept the Moon Goddess's solution. Watched her man cry. Watched them all ready for a war they couldn't possibly win.
"No," I continued, warming to my plan, "we let them fight the Devourers first. Let them wear each other down. And when the dust settles, we'll take whatever's left."
But I wasn't fleeing empty-handed.
"Deploy the Ember Seeds," I ordered, my orange eyes burning brighter.
"Sir?" My lieutenant's mechanical voice held surprise. "Those are new weapons. Untested."
"Then it's time for a field test," I said with a grin that would have frightened anyone with flesh still on their bones.
The Ember Seeds were my latest creation. Tiny mechanical devices no bigger than marbles, designed to burrow underground and stay dormant until activated. When triggered, each one would burst with the force of a small volcano.
I'd placed them throughout the forest over the past month, just in case I needed to make a dramatic exit.
"How many did we place?" I asked.
"Forty-seven gadgets, sir. Enough to level everything within a ten-mile radius."
I nodded in happiness. If the Luna Priestess and her friends managed to beat the Crimson Devourers, they'd be too weak to survive my little parting gift. If the Devourers won, well, then I'd at least give them a proper welcome to this world.
"Lord Vulcan," a new voice spoke from the transmission array. "We're receiving a transmission from an unknown source."
"Put it through," I ordered.
The main screen flickered, and suddenly I was looking at something that made my metal blood run cold.
It was a face. Human-looking, but with eyes like black stars and skin that seemed to absorb light instead of returning it.
"Greetings, Forge Lord," the figure spoke in a voice like silk over knives. "I am Nyx, Herald of the Crimson Devourers."
My entire army went silent.
"We know you've been watching," Nyx continued, those terrible eyes staring straight at me through the screen. "We know about your little toys hidden in the forest. And we have an offer for you."
I leaned forward, interested despite myself. "I'm listening."
"Join us," Nyx said simply. "Your mechanical army could be useful in harvesting this world. In return, we'll allow you to keep your consciousness when we consume everything else."
For a moment, I was actually tempted. The Crimson Devourers were older than gods, more powerful than anything I'd ever met. Serving them might be the smart play.
But then I remembered something my maker had told me, back when I was just another war machine in his forge.
"Never bow to anyone, no matter how strong they seem. Power can be stolen, studied, duplicated. But honor, once lost, is gone forever."
"Tempting," I told Nyx, "but I'll have to refuse. I prefer to make my own fate."
The Herald's perfect features turned into something horrible.
"Then you've chosen extinction," it hissed. "When we finish with the Luna Priestess, you'll be next on our menu."
The transmission cut off, leaving my command center in tense quiet.
"Sir?" my officer asked quietly. "Orders?"
I stood there for a long moment, weighing my choices. I could flee to another world. I could try to negotiate. I could even try to help the mortals fight back.
Or I could do what I'd always done best.
Adapt.
"Begin full retreat," I ordered. "Take us to the Deep Forge. It's time to wake up the Old Guard."
As my mechanical troops began their withdrawal, I took one last look at the grove where Elara stood surrounded by enemies she didn't even know about yet.
"Survive if you can, little priestess," I mumbled. "Because if you don't, we're all going to have a very bad day."
I was about to turn away when something on the screen made me freeze.
The blood-red mark on Elara's forehead wasn't just glowing anymore. It was moving. Crawling across her skin like a living thing, forming symbols I recognized from my most ancient files.
Devourer eating marks.
"Oh," I breathed, understanding rushing through my mechanical mind. "Oh, you clever little parasites."
The Crimson Devourers hadn't just marked Elara as food. They'd been slowly changing her from the inside for months, maybe years. Every time she'd used her Luna Priestess skills, every moment of divine energy, had been feeding something growing inside her.
She wasn't just their goal.
She was their incubation box.
And she was about to hatch.