CannonGranny

"Darn it!" I slammed the freshly cast cannon mould to the ground, breaking the metal into pieces. The mould had taken me three months to make, but I didn't feel sorry for it, as it had been a flawed, defective piece. My father sighed, having seen my work go from nothing to nothing, he reassured me, "Barbara, you've done a good job." "But good doesn't mean perfect!" Instead of comforting me, his words made me even angrier, "I could have made it better!" "It is not perfection I wish to see, Barbara," my father put his hand on my head and gently stroked my sweat-dampened hair, "the Dwarf has enslaved us for centuries and our fate has never been in our own hands." "I don't understand, father. Why must we go to war with the Dwarf?" Our life wasn't entirely tough, working for the Dwarf was tiring and we were beaten from time to time, but it was much better than living on the streets. "Because your talents are unmatched, my child." Dad looked at the pieces all over the floor with an elusive smile on his face, "Only those who master their destiny can see the future."

Click, clink, whirring, and boom! Dwarves on the hill, don't even think about coming half a step closer to us, eat this! "Barbara, two o'clock! Let's give them a taste of fire!" My father's voice rang from my handmade magic microphone, and I immediately turned the cannon towards two o'clock. Bad guys, you're screwed. Bang! The explosion rose with crimson smoke. "Barbara! Watch the front, a squad of Dwarf gunners ......" my father's voice rang again, but with urgency and desperation in his tone. I hurriedly turned towards the front, but I was greeted by a black barrel of a cannon, and the bloody dwarf had lit the fuse. It was too late ...... I could even hear the hiss of gunpowder inside the barrel. At that moment, a figure darted towards me, knocking me off the control panel and firmly shielding me with his own body. It was my father. He had a smile on his face right up to the last moment. The next second, the shell exploded around us and my consciousness was plunged into darkness.

★ I woke up to a roar. It was another nightmare. After all these years, I still dreamed about that day. I scrambled up from the workbench, grabbed the pipe beside me and took a couple of puffs to try and calm myself down. Laying in front of me was the most advanced magic cannon in the world today - the latest research outcome from my team. Its smooth metal surface reflected my current appearance - an old lady full of silver hair with a wrinkled face stained with machine oil. "Grandma, the results of the one-way conversion test came back and it passed, better than we thought it would be." Reporting to me was the young genius Golby Homa, one of my assistants. "What are the results of the static calibration?" I asked. "As expected and ready to go into actual combat." Homa's voice was confident and full of energy. "Then there's no time to waste. Ship it to Tauremorna overnight." Yes, after all these years we were still fighting, only the enemy was no longer the Dwarf Empire - Goblins had long been freed from the shackles imposed on them. Now we were facing a stronger and more dangerous enemy. "But ...... I can still optimize the sector and improve the electrical efficiency ...... I can make it even better." Homa looked at me, his eyes full of expectations. "Perfect ......" The young Homa reminded me of myself as a young child, "Then do it, boy, but I'll only give you one night." Receiving my consent, Homa gladly devoted himself to his work again. "Aye, only those who master their destiny can see the future." I murmured to his busy back.