Just Punch the Thing!

I gritted my teeth and waited, but the impact didn't come. Slowly, I opened my eyes. The enemy's knuckles hovered a short distance away, struggling against a thin, translucent wall of magical energy.

"Marigold!?" I gasped, searching the ground for the witch. She was standing beside a tree, clutching an injured leg with one hand and gripping her glowing staff in the other. "You're alright!"

"It won't hold," she grunted, her eyes trained on the barrier with intense focus. The protective veil warped in response to the enemy's four massive fists. Small tears appeared and grew, and the barrier gave way, but Marigold's efforts had given me time to move, and I got away with only a minor blow to the arm.

The giant looked down at Marigold. "Another one?" it said. "And you can draw out that power... how irritating." It took a step toward Marigold, seemingly intent on picking her off first. I knew that Marigold's magic had its limits; she had made that perfectly—frustratingly—clear. She could only protect us for so long. Ultimately, it was up to me to ensure our survival. Of course, I was curious as to what lie beyond death as well, but having only just found something of great interest in the world of the living, I wasn't yet ready to die. With a single stride the length of a downed oak, I moved in front of the witch.

"I am your quarry, no?" I said. "That one down there is but an innocent bystander. You see, that barrier was my own doing!"

"I will not be tricked," said the four-armed giant. "I sense no such power from you."

"Uh..." I struggled to think of some excuse to save Marigold from the giant's ire. It could sense magic somehow... Was it a mage as well?

It leapt at me and threw back its shoulder, winding up for a punch, but as its fist came forward its whole posture instantly changed and I was knocked in the head by a powerful kick. I fell to the side onto my hands and knees. How was it able to move so quickly? There was no way I could defend against such speed; I simply couldn't react fast enough.

I watched as it approached Marigold, and her panicked face was obscured by the shadow of the giant's enormous stump-like foot. I called out to her in warning, and she dove away, narrowly avoiding being crushed. The four-armed giant lifted up its other leg, and an awful feeling of hopelessness washed over me. I scrambled toward Marigold, but I couldn't make it in time. I couldn't, I couldn't... The giant's foot began to fall.

No! There had to be something I could do! Yes—suddenly, in a flash of brilliant thought, it came to me. That voice had said that it controlled Alithet just as I would, so perhaps it stood to reason that all its powers were in fact Alithet's powers as well, and now that I had become Alithet's mind... As the enemy's massive foot dropped to the ground, I shut my eyes tight and reached out, not just with my hand but with some inner part of my being, with my faith, and I felt a strange warmth course through my body as I cried out in desperation.

The ground shook.

"Marigold!"

I heard her voice: a shriek that became a gasp. "What? Wh—" she stammered. "Where am I...?" I opened my eyes. Marigold was nowhere to be seen, but there was something faint: a weight on my body—not Alithet's, but my real, human body which still sat somewhere within this great machine, in that small room with the metal apparatus. I had succeeded.

"Ha!" I laughed. "Haha! I've done it!" My theory was correct—by becoming Alithet, I had gained access to its power and was able to transport Marigold inside, just as the mysterious voice had done to me earlier.

"And why am I—" Marigold said. I felt her weight shift, and she suddenly burst into laughter. "What... what in the world! Godwin, you look like you're in some kind of torture device!" How embarrassing, to be made fun of in the midst of my dramatic battlefield debut! Pah. Would that my connection to Alithet had taken the form of a knightly suit of armor rather than a mess of hinges and odd protrusions. Well, Alithet's mighty form was the real suit of armor, and it was more than grand enough for a Holy Knight.

"Hm," said the four-armed giant, turning my way. "Did Ariel teach you that? Perhaps you know more than I thought. And yet, your strategy is counterproductive. All you've done is condensed two targets into one."

"That may be true," I said, "but this giant body is far sturdier than mine or hers. We might both live this way."

"Prioritizing the lives of others over your own... you are just like him." The enemy disappeared, and its four arms wrapped around me from behind, constricting my movement. Slowly, it lifted Alithet off the ground before slamming me back down.

Marigold grunted in pain. "Godwin! Do something!"

"I know! I know, dammit!" I said. "But, how can I compete with its speed? Is it using magic?"

"I... don't know!" said Marigold. "It's like this one—I mean, there's something like magic, but not. What it's doing would be impossible for a mage!"

"So you can't help." I muttered. I was disappointed but not surprised.

"You're the one controlling a damn giant!" she yelled. "Just punch the thing!"

"How can I punch it when it keeps disappearing!?"

The enemy vanished again, reappearing on my left with a kick that sent me skidding across the ground. I winced as Marigold grunted again. "Can't you transport us away? Out of here?" I hadn't considered that. If I could transport someone into Alithet, surely I could transport someone out. But, there was no way to know how far away I could send us, or whether the enemy would leave us alone once we escaped.

"I won't run," I said, sounding less sure of myself than I would have liked.

"Idiot! We're going to die!" said Marigold. And she was right—or she would've been, but there was still one other option we hadn't tried.

"Wait!" I shouted, holding up my hands between myself and the four-armed giant. "We surrender!"

The enemy stopped. "What?" it said, and Marigold echoed it.

"You're after this Ariel fellow, right?" I said. "It's like I said—I have no idea about any of that. I don't know who that is, nor do I swear allegiance to him."

"Trying to trick me again?" said the giant. "You take me for a fool. A nobody such as you claim yourself to be could not enter that machine."

"I do not lie! I came here to investigate the giant that appeared on the horizon. A voice came to me and told me to fight, but I know nothing of its identity or intentions. It was that voice that connected me to Alithet mere moments before your appearance."

"...I see. So, you would relinquish Alithet to me?" The enemy's voice calmed, but its stance remained set for battle.

"My only request is to be allowed passage along with Alithet. You see, I am a Holy Knight. In order to further my quest, I wish to lay eyes upon your realm."

"What are you doing!?" hissed Marigold.

"A Holy Knight?" said the four-armed giant. Hesitantly, it relaxed its posture. "Very well. Your surrender is the quickest way to end this, after all. Now kneel, you scrap." I kneeled. "Do you yield?" said the enemy.

"I yield."