“Ok, is that it?” Hazelmere asked.

“That doesn’t look like much,” Mizette commented.

“Well, we don’t have much to offer. Half of our gifts are actually the dwarven trinkets.”

“I wanna see how much sense those demons of yours will make out of these dwarven instruments. If they can get one-quarter right, that means there are some real engineers out there,” Wyvernshield didn’t bother with hiding his dwarven pride, “will you be sendin’ them some magical stuff?”

“We have considered it but have decided against it. There is too much risk involved. We don’t want them knowing how the magic works in our world.”

“Aye, I can understand that.”

“So … I guess we can start waving?”

“I’ll leave that to you people. The dwarven hands are too short, and I’ve plenty of work to do,” Wyvernshield said as he started leaving.

“We will let you know if we see a construct approaching.”

“Please do.”

---

Hazelmere, Mizette, Natle, Heartwell, and Vukasin stood in front of the container, waving at the portal. At first, the mages were very energized and enthusiastic about it, but their enthusiasm started waning with time. Meanwhile, Heartwell and Vukasin were never excited about it to begin with and waved like two puppets from the very start.

“Why do we have to be here?” Heartwell complained.

“Because, five is the number of the gods,” Hazelmere responded.

“But, why do we have to be here? Why can’t I get some soldiers to wave for us? Honestly, I’m starting to feel like a fool here.”

“Because we are the representatives of our world. Three best archmages and two best soldiers.”

“Just because we’re in charge, that doesn’t mean we’re the best,” Vukasin said.

“I know, I am just kidding. People in charge must take responsibility.”

“Something is coming!” The mage sitting near the magescope interrupted the conversation with her alarmed voice, “it’s a big one!”

“The one with the container?”

“Yes, it looks like it!”

“I guess that means they can see what we’re doing in our camp. And we’re beautiful targets out here,” Heartwell pointed out, a bit of worry in his voice.

“We will go back into the camp once it gets closer, don’t worry. Oh yes!” She turned towards the guards at the entrance, “Go and tell the dwarves that the construct is coming! A big one, most likely!”

The two soldiers nodded at each other before one of them ran into the camp.

“Yeap! It is that giant bug, most definitely!” The magescoper confirmed.

It didn’t take long for it to get into view. Its size made it very easy to spot. Its many weird legs crawled over the ground with much speed.

Wyvernshield and his dwarves weren’t taking their time either. They arrived at the gates almost at the same time the construct came into view. Wyvernshield immediately hopped onto his bulky farscope and started turning it around.

“My gods, it’s fast! It’s so fast, I can’t focus the mirrors properly! It leaves the focus in mere moments!”

“It sounds as if you’re excited, not worried,” Heartwell jested.

“He’s probably both,” one of the dwarves commented, “how big is it, boss?”

“I can’t tell! It moves too fast! Its legs are a blur! But I can tell it’s definitely some kind of a construct!”

The big bug raced towards them and, thanks to its high speed, it wasn’t long before it reached the camp.

“Ok, everyone, get inside!” Hazelmere shouted.

“I’m stayin’ here! I want to inspect it from up close!” Wyvernshield protested in a manner that clearly stated there would be no question about it.

“Ok, you can stay if you want. Everyone else, get behind the palisade!”

Timkiks rushed to get back inside the camp. As they did so, Mizette noticed something.

“Aren’t you coming with us?”

“No. I will stay here to welcome our guest,” Hazelmere responded.

“A guest? Are you crazy! It’s an oversized, metal, bug-construct! I don’t think it cares for your greetings!”

“If they can see our camp, then I am certain they will appreciate the gesture.”

“You’ve gone insane! Heartwell! Why aren’t you stopping her! Aren’t you supposed to keep her safe?”

“I’ll trust her on this one since it looks like she knows what she’s doing. Besides, she has the dwarves with her. If anyone knows how to handle constructs, it’s them.”

Mizette finally got back into the camp, shaking her head left and right in disbelief as she walked.

“Hmm … I expected it to be bigger,” Wyvernshield complained.

“What?” Hazelmere turned towards him with a confused look on her face.

“I thought it would be bigger,” he repeated himself while pointing at something.

The mechanical bug was close, just a few more moments separated it from them. Hazelmere only now became aware of its roaring.

Hazelmere straightened up, clearing her throat. She ran her hand through her hair before checking if her canine ears were in the proper position.

The thing slowed down as it approached while at the same time lowering the volume of its roar, as if it was trying to reassure them. Finally, it stopped some distance away.

“Oh? Well, would you look at that!” Wyvernshield commented.

“What?”

“I’m willin’ to bet my left jewel it has stopped exactly twenty-five beards in front of us.”

“So?”

“Twenty-five? Five times five? Five, the number of the gods?” He sounded like a teacher, trying to lead his student to a logical conclusion.

“Oh?”

“This thing knows exactly what it’s doin’. Which is good, I guess. Even though they’re comin’ from hell, they still recognize your gods.”

“I … I guess it is.”

Hazelmere approached the big thing carefully. Strangely, it didn’t look like an insect from up close.

“Umm … hello?”

The construct remained silent.

“Thank you for coming here. I truly appreciate it. I am very …”

Hazelmere stopped mid-sentence, becoming frozen like a statue in an instant. She realized the dwarves wasted no time and were already all over the alien construct. Some of them were even poking it.

“Don’t worry about them, do go on,” Wyvernshield encouraged her, “keep it busy while my boys examine it.”

“Umm, yes, as I was saying … I appreciate the books you have sent us. Sorry about the first batch we burnt, we didn’t mean to do that …”

“Oi, boss!” One of the dwarves inspecting the thing yelled.

“What is it?”

“It got no thread, but I’ve found its gas hole!”

“So, it’s generatin’ energy through combustion.”

“It’s a beautiful gas hole!” Another dwarf added, “Very neat, very clean! It’s a bit too small, but it has an outstandin’, perfectly-round shape!”

“But I can’t tell what it’s burnin’! It’s definitely not coal, nor koh!”

“I’m comin’ to smell it myself,” Wyvernshield rushed with great haste.

Hazelmere gave an uncertain smile to the construct: “Anyway! We’ve, umm … we have decided to, give you some gifts! Considering how considerate you were, we were hoping we could continue trading. Hopefully, we will learn more about each other that way.”

“Oi! Its legs are a never-endin’ road!” Another deep voice was heard from behind the construct.

“What’s that?” Followed by another one.

“Look at its legs boss! It’s a never-endin’ road! Its wheels are movin’ on top of these links, with the links actin’ as a road!”

“Nail me sideways, you’re right! It’s basically wearin’ the road like socks!”

“I bet those links don’t last long though. Too much wear.”

“Soo … hopefully, we can continue our friendly relations,” the sourness of Hazelmere’s smile increased with each moment, “this isn’t much, but please, take it as a sign of our goodwill.”

She bowed respectfully to the construct, stepping aside.

The construct roared to life once again and started turning around, as if it was about to leave.

“Wait! Wait!” Hazelmere started panicking, “Can you tell me what’s wrong? Are the gifts not to your liking?

As the construct turned around, Hazelmere finally saw that its entire section was missing, a huge chunk of it. Then she remembered that the container was originally a part of its body.

Once the construct has turned its back to the container, it started moving backward, slowly.

The dwarves stopped poking it and instead just observed what it did, without saying a word.

When the rear end of its linked legs came close to the container, something opened on the top of the construct. From inside of it came out a neatly arranged, connected stack of thin, but long, metal bars. The bars started twisting in the air, eventually arranging themselves in a pattern. In just a few moments, those metal bars arranged themselves into a big, skeleton-like hand.

“You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me,” Wyvernshield commented, not even trying to pick up his jaw from the floor.

The skeleton-like hand grabbed the container with its thin fingers, showing practiced finesse as it did so. It lifted the entire container before putting it onto the construct’s back. As soon as its body was complete once again, a loud clacking sound echoed from within it.

With that, the construct roared once again and left. It wasn’t long before its silhouette became small enough to fit into a nail.

“So, did you ...” Hazelmere turned towards the dwarves, only to stop mid-sentence.

Seeing the dwarves, she had no idea what to say. They resembled statues, pale and immovable, with only a single expression on their faces.

“Umm … are you ok?”

“Boss … that’s impossible.”

“I know.”

“It’s impossible.”

“I know!”

“It has to be some kind of an illusion.”

“Then, why isn’t the container here!”

“I … it’s too thin to support that mass! And it has too many joints to be strong and reliable!”

Suddenly, Wyvernshield rushed for the camp’s entrance, his face a textbook example of frustration. Even his big nose turned red from irritation.

“I know!”