Maika was grumpy. It was windy, and she'd been walking for miles. The tower had looked so close from the city - it was hard to miss across the vast and level landscape of the valley. But the further she walked, the more she'd realized it wasn't really a casual hike. It was just that huge. Her leg was starting to protest all the work, the juncture between her metal shin and knee chafing with overuse.
'I'm going to have to redesign you again,' she thought with a disparaging glance at the appliance. This was the 8th model, and frankly, the best of its kind. It was her pride and joy, and yet the thought of the materials she might acquire when she reached the tower made her perfectly gleeful about scrapping it and building #9.
A giant, abandoned metal structure in the middle of no-man's land? Yes, please. She couldn't wait to thump on it and see what it was made from (and what could be loosened with the tools she had on hand!) Her empty pack thumped hungrily against her back as she pressed on. Could it be iron? No, it would be rusted by now. Nickel? Too impractical. She mused over the possibilities, getting more and more eager as she could finally make out the details of the structure. Just a little way further! She put a hop in her step, all but drooling about investigating this thing.
A clap of thunder overhead drew her attention upward. With the high winds, weather patterns crossed these plains often, and quickly. Now that it had her attention, the storm was obvious, looming rapidly toward her location. A sprinkle of rain splashed down from overhead.
'Eight, we've gotta problem,' she acknowledged warily, walking faster. Another roar pealed over the landscape. It was getting dark, fast. "Crap," she muttered in a thin voice, and bolted for the tower.
She had nearly reached it, when a skewer of light arched down from the heavens directly above the tower. Metal groaned angrily under the strike, while the thunderclap nearly knocked her breath out. She staggered slowly back from the collapsing tower, thoroughly soaked.
A metal heap was no place to be in a storm, but she'd come so far. She'd come here to salvage, and she was going to salvage, damn it. She edged carefully around the structure, peering upward. She had to look twice to accept what she noticed then on the tower. Two men appeared to be fighting, and one was using magic. Who in their right mind would use magic in this kingdom? It was a miracle they weren't dead, for multiple reasons.
"Hey! Stop fighting and get off that thing!" she tried to shout up at them. As expected, her voice started out strong, but gave out into a hiss halfway through her warning. Frustrating, not being able to yell when she needed to. Were they insane? "Get down, you idiots!" She picked up a stone by her foot and threw it up toward where they were standing.