Ally flapped her wings in the oppressive desert sun, thankful that she was not actually alive since the heat was so bad that she could see mirages, “You know, I realized something,” she said to her two sisters, “How do the extradimensionals or otherworlders or whatever not die in this heat? I mean, they didn’t live in a desert on Earth, right?”

The other two shrugged, “Maybe it has to do with the Traits they were given? An unintended consequence of the adaptability Trait?” Tisi guessed, “Why do you ask?”

“Because, we’re about to meet them again,” Ally replied.

Mae shook her head, “That’s fair, but it’s not like we’ll be seeing them much. We’ll be busy commanding the three hundred Talonecs we were given, coordinating with the living high command, and things like that. We won’t have time to ask them about how they deal with the heat of the desert.”

“Or the cold,” Tisi added, noticing the two confused gazes from her sisters, “The desert, without water or moisture, cannot retain the heat of the day, and becomes very cold during the night. I am surprised so few notice it. The living people we have met barely noticed it, Fara does not speak about the heat or cold, the mistress likely cannot feel the effects of extreme temperatures, the same is true of the other undead, and the dwarves are mostly isolated from the extreme temperature changes.”

“Okay, what is it with you two and how hot it is?” Mae asked, turning around as she flew, “I mean, we’re about to take on an army of killer robots after the gloves come off, and you two are worried about how the living stand the heat. Can’t you think about that instead of heat?”

Ally sighed in her mind. On one side, she had the aloof Tisi who only occasionally humored her, and on the other, she had Mae, who was extremely dedicated to her service to the mistress-- which was fine, but Ally would have preferred it if Mae had some more humor in her than she ever really showed.

Nevertheless, they fell into silence once more and Ally sighed to herself. They had been flying for two days at that point, and they had another three to go. According to Fara, they would reach the fortress within a few days, but that felt so long that Ally was seriously considering hijacking some poor skiff-owner just to get there without the monotony of flying. 

“Gods, I’m bored,” Ally groaned, flying with her back to the ground, “Can’t something interesting happen already? I’m so sick of just trundling along and doing nothing… How about you guys? You ready to kick some ass and get celebrated by everyone?” she asked.

Mae sighed, “Ally-”

“That’s my name.”

“-Why don’t you check on the Talonecs while we fly? It’ll be more fun that ‘trundling along,’ as you said,'' Mae said, throwing a small box the size of her head at Ally. She caught it, rolling her eyes at Mae’s annoyance. There was nothing to do while flying, and that irked her quite fiercely. So many of the living dreamt of flight, and yet the life of a bird was quite boring when there was nothing to see. At least they could talk to each other, Ally thought.

She shook her head and held the box under her, cracking it open so that only the smallest amount of light could enter. The box was almost entirely dark, with a single, small beam of light cutting through it. “You guys alright in here?” she asked. A single, metal-clad hand emerged from the shadows, giving a thumbs up, then sunk back into the darkness. Ally nodded and closed the box. If there was one thing she did not want to see, it was what happened when a large number of undead were crammed into the same shadow, then the shadow was removed. She predicted that either, one, they would all be thrown from the box at high speeds, like a pressurized can bursting, or two, they would all become a large, metallic meatball. Neither were things that played nice with the concept of ‘not dying,’ so she was careful.

Yet another hour passed, and Ally was still bored. She looked around, but could only see the dunes and the occasional rocky mesa, “Hey, do you guys want to play I spy?” she asked.

The other two turned to her, “There’s nothing to spy but sand, mesas, and the sun,” Mae replied.

“I can guess something other than those three things,” Tisi said, turning to Mae, “I spy something big, round, and empty.”

Ally held up her free hand, “I already know this one. You’re talking about my head, aren’t you?” she sighed. It was nice to have the stoic one crack her shell a bit, but it only ever happened when Ally herself was the butt of the joke.

“How did you know?” Tisi asked with a smile, “How about this one: I spy something big, fat, and covered in plant matter.”

Ally tried to think of anything at all that could be covered in plant stuff and be in the desert. She suddenly had a thought, and immediately facepalmed, “You’re talking about my ass, aren’t you? Since when did you start taking tips from Eva?”

Tisi smiled and turned away while Mae simply sighed, “Alright, alright, how about a new game. Since Ally keeps getting bored, why don’t we play the story game?”

“The story game?” Ally asked, “Which one’s that?”

Tisi snapped her finger, “Oh, is it the one where we say a word and then someone says the next word in the story, and we keep going until we have a story?” Mae nodded, gesturing to Tisi for her to start, “Okay, then I start with: We.”

“Once,” Ally said.

“Went,” Mae continued.

“To,” Tisi replied.

“A,” Ally continued.

“Large,” Mae replied.

“Fight,” Tisi said.

“Period,” Ally added.

“Wait, was that a period, as in the punctuation, or a period, as in an interval of time?” Mae asked.

Ally turned, “Punctuation.”

“Is,” Tisi replied.

Mae sighed, “Wait, we aren’t doing this-”

“Really,” Ally said.

“Interesting,” Tisi added.

Ally groaned, “‘Interesting?’ Really?”

“What?” Tisi asked.

“Why interesting? Why not ‘complicated?’ Or ‘weird?’ Or anything other than ‘interesting?’”

“Because I find punctuation a very interesting subject, thank you very much,” Tisi replied, “Why do you not find it interesting as well? Or is it that it hurts your head,” she chuckled.

Ally scoffed, “I’m a brute, not a bonehead,” she replied, “Or is it your ego that makes you pick on me and insult my stunning intellect?”

“And you call me egotistical,” Tisi muttered.

“Alright, enough fighting, girls. I think I hear something. Listen,” Mae cut in, pausing, “Do you hear it too?” Raising her head and closing her eyes. Ally followed suit, faintly hearing the crackling pops of gunfire and the booms of explosives, “We can’t be near the Range, since we can’t even see the mountains. Alright, let’s peel off and figure out what’s going on here.”

They veered off course, flying low and nearly touching the sand beneath them, and approached the sounds of battle. They pulled up and just barely flew over a dune as they finally caught sight of the battle. A skiff, smaller than the Kharon, was surrounded by a large group of generic Clockworks. Scouts made up the bulk of the many-dozens strong force, while Soldiers and Crashers acted as shields and fire support respectively. The sisters only needed to share a glance before they split up.

Tisi flapped her wings backwards and removed her staff from its cloth bag, rising into the sky and waving her staff in some pattern or other that Ally was far too preoccupied to discern. Mae split to the left, bringing her fancy mana-beam rifle to bear and firing a shot into the chest of a Soldier. Whatever lenses were slotted into it, they were effective. An explosion rocked the field, and the Soldier was torn to shreds. Ally, at the same time, flew forwards with newly-discovered strength. If nothing else-- which was entirely false, as there was much else to consider about the mistress’ upgrade-- her strength helped her fly at once-dangerous speeds.

She plunged into the horde, slashing Clockworks with her fancy sword and splitting them in twine. She did not slash widely, however much she wanted to, and instead cut her way forward to the trapped living on the skiff. She eventually broke through the line of Clockworks and flew above the deck of the skiff.

It was, as she previously noticed, not a large skiff. Easily enough for a small team of people, but not much more. On its decks, was a group of people she swore she heard as a joke scenario. A human man was firing wildly into the horde of Clockworks. An elven woman was controlling a dozen runes at once, spitting torrents of pure force into the Clockworks-- thought it only slowed the approaching line. An orcish man was throwing quite literally anything he could get his hands on at the oncoming horde. Finally, a scorpion insectoid was, to Ally’s confusion, kneeling over some cobbled-together abomination of Clockworks parts.

The insectoid slammed their hand onto the Clockwork-chimera’s chest and a sudden green light shone through the thin gaps in the armor. It suddenly rose and a dozen guns sprouted from the things arms and torso. The orc and elf dove for cover while the human sighed and continued to fire into the crowd of Clockworks, even as near-miss bullets tore into his cheek or clothing.The Clockwork Chimera stood firm, almost as if aiming its guns, then lit up like the sun. Waves upon waves of bullets spewed forth like a fountain, cutting swathes into the hordes.

Yet, despite the success of the spraying bullets, a rocket from the sole Crasher left un-sniped slammed into the mechamancer’s creation. Jagged metal flew and Ally had to roll through the air to leave her wings unperforated. Seeing the mecahmancer’s chimera detonate, the living people grew grim faces and began to fight with everything they had.

It was at that exact moment that a brilliant light shone through the desert. The land itself felt alive, as sand began to grip onto the legs of Clockworks all around. Many were swallowed by the dunes, presumably crushed under the shifting tide of sand. Others held their ground, stumbling as Ally swooped in to remove head from shoulder or as Mae removed large portions of their chests with her gun. Only a few, the one remaining Crasher and two remaining Soldiers, could resist. Yet, despite that, they were soon turned to scrap by the other spells cast by either the elf or Tisi. The desert was silent, then. Nothing but the flapping wings of the three furies or the labored breathing of the living remained.

The sisters converged above the skiff, leaning in to whisper, “Alright, what’s the plan? Do we leave them, or do we see if they need help?” Mae asked, “I know what the more interesting option is, but we’ve got a mission to do.”

Ally and Tisi shared a glance, “It can’t hurt to check up on them,” Ally replied.

“Agreed,” Tisi added, “That is what the mistress would want.”

Mae shrugged, “Fine, but let me do the talking,” she said as she descended onto the deck of the skiff. Ally and Tisi followed behind her, standing beside their sister, “Are you four alright?” Mae asked, stepping forwards.

The four sighed in relief-- which was when Ally noticed that they had been clutching their weapons while they discussed above them-- and the elf stepped forward, though there was some discomfort hidden in her eyes, “We’re fine,” she said, “Thanks to you guys. If you don’t mind me asking, where are you from? We didn’t think anyone would be traveling this stretch of the Dust, let alone three flyers.”

Mae chuckled, “Ah, I believe that we should make something clear before we continue,” she said, “We are death knights. Undead, for those of you not knowledgeable in necromancy.” The furies waited for a reaction, and it was almost immediate, the human developed an intrigued expression, the orc immediately took a step back in warriness, the elf suddenly became ecstatic, and the insectoid… clacked its mandibles. Which could have meant literally anything to Ally.

“That’s wonderful!” the elf replied, “My father was actually a necromancer! He actually taught me some spells, but I never found anyone who wanted to donate their bodies to become undead. Nor people who wanted to work with undead…” she muttered.

The orc scoffed, “It’s because people don’t trust necromancers,” he said, Ally glad to have the remnants of [Universal Soul Language] to avoid hearing the odd orcish accent, “Who would trust a woman who can outnumber you with a wave her hand and the use of a few bodies?”

Mae gave a sneaky glance to Ally, who patted the box still snugly in her arm, while shaking her head. Ally could only guess that the fact that the three of them could outnumber the four living people by over fifty times was to be kept a secret. Ally could also swear that the insectoid noticed their exchange, but put it out of her mine. “Personally, I would prefer not to see gruesome displays of violence shamble around,” the human added, “But you three seem… remarkably well… how to say it? Killed?”

The three smirked at that, “I wouldn’t say so,” Mae chuckled, “Apparently, our bodies were once pirates that the mistress… well, brutalized would be a good term for it. Either way, a bit of magic, and we’re back to pristine condition. So, where are you four headed?”

The four glanced at each other for a moment, the orc very grumpy, but they seemed to reach an understanding, “Aekan,” the elf said, “We heard about some big battle and wanted to join. Where are you three going?”

“The same, actually. The mistress asked us to scout ahead for her army to arrive, and to assist the joint force while she was in transit,” Mae replied.

The elf’s eye suddenly twitched, “You know… I’m wondering, why are you three so… willing to comply with your necromancer? Shouldn’t you be fighting for control or something?” she asked. The other three suddenly noticed that as well, and they began to tense up.

Ally could tell that Mae was nervous, but she stood tall without fear, “We death knights are different,” Mae replied, “We are almost the children of the necromancer who gave us intelligence, so we don’t rebel.” Ally smiled in her mind. It was not a lie, but not the whole truth, either. They were definitely sincere-- they did love the mistress like a mother-- so there was no way their misdirection could be detected.

The four living people thought for a few moments, did their non-verbal communication thing again, and nodded, bringing them to the hold of the skiff. “Alright, this is the common room,” the elf said when they came upon a small room with a table, counter, and ice box, “You can relax here while we get the Seeker up and running again.” Before any of them could ask what the ‘Seeker’ meant, the elf darted out of the room, leaving the three alone.

Ally looked between her sisters, dug through the satchel on her robe, put the box down, and pulled out a deck of cards. They had their own little bout of non-verbale communication, and they were playing poker barely a minute later.