Deepforge by R.J. Washburn, Ron Washburn Read Free Book Online Page B

epic feast. The beer wagons were by far the largest part of the army caravan. No army would even consider a two week march without a good supply of beer and food.
    Only a few days after leaving Deepforge, the Hawkflight industrial park skyline could be seen. It wasn’t a pleasant sight as it usually was. Hawkflight was one of the designated spots for overnight stays and had plenty of supplies. The industrial park was really a city. There were homes, a central trade square, and everything a city would have, but was surrounded by smelting plants, various factories, and so forth. The entire park was owned by Hawkflight Industries and supplied the known world with nearly all manner of high tech devices and electrics. It centered on the River of Prosperity, with a series of ornate stone bridges spanning the river connecting the two halves of the high tech city. The trade square itself was on the south side of the river.              
    The multi-story buildings normally rose high into the sky, majestically declaring mankind’s triumph over nature. Now it was something else. Multiple plumes of black smoke rose into the sky, but not from the smoke stacks which normally did so as the manufacturing progressed. This was sign of something else. Disaster. Buildings were on fire, no doubt a result of the EM pulse.
    “By the gods!” Grognor exclaimed, to be echoed by the army. “Looks like they were hit hard. We need to hurry. They must need help.”
    They increased their speed and dispensed with the indulgent food stops. Of course, the beer stops were required. As they drew closer, the true extend of the damage became more and more evident.              
    “It’s all gone!” one of the warriors exclaimed, not believing his eyes.
    The entire industrial park was destroyed, leaving only burning skeletons of the buildings behind. The only portion that survived was the residence area and trade square. Everything on the northern side of the river where the crossroads and one of the power distributions centers were, was nothing but burning rubble. Dwarves and gnomes scrambled everywhere as the army arrived.
    The army quickly dismounted and chipped in with the cleanup.
    “Where’s Chieftain Hawkson?!” Grognor screamed in desperation.
    “Emperor!” The gnome Chieftain Hawkson ran up to the scene. He was burned on his left side, and had apparently suffered some sort of major electrical discharge on his helmet, which was now melted and burned onto his head.
    “Thank the gods! Hawkson, are you ok? How many did we lose?”
    Hawkson ran up and hugged his friend Grognor. “Sire, thanks to the gods, or fate, or something, we lost no one. The infrastructure is a complete loss, however. We were all in the council chambers when everything metal began to spark, then the main reactor exploded. We got out just as cooling tube number 4 collapsed, right into the council. We escaped as everything in the industrial park exploded in plasma bursts! It was terrible! Do you have any idea what happened?”
    The engineers from Deepforge converged on the scene and explained the whole EM burst incident from the portal.
    “Chieftain, what do you need, we’re here to help?” Teelena asked.
    Hawkson burst into tears and embraced her, finally succumbing to the technological horror he had witnessed over the past week.
    “There, there,” she said, looking over at Grognor as he and several others attempted to put out the enduring fires, and clean up the massive mess.
    Grognor’s eyes met hers, and he let slip a tiny smile. He nodded and continued to help, moving the largest pieces, the ones nobody else could.
    “It’s a total loss, Teelena. Everything’s gone! All of it!” Hawkson cried.
    Teelena caressed his arm, and got a good look at his melted helmet. “Oh, my goodness. We need to get this off before it gets infected. Come on, let me help you.”
    Hawkson scarcely heard her. Teelena led him over to her steed, and pulled out