The Golem

From atop the pile of stone and metal that had once been his prison, Avii groaned as he reached for the iron rod that had pierced his gut in the fall. Wheezing bubbles of blood past sewn cheeks, his hands easily slipped over the sanguine-soaked spear. He tried to free himself by pulling the rod through, but he was too exhausted and weak to even maintain his grip.

Helplessly pinned, he adjusted his head to peer through the haze of dust and smoke. There he could see figures rushing around as they attempted to make sense of the post-quake chaos. Drowning out their screams was the blowing of horns that acted as the camp’s siren. It was a familiar sound that Avii had heard once before on the day he was last freed from Kovik enslavement.

“E-enemy?” He muttered, coughing up more blood as he weakly pounded his fist at the pole in an attempt to loosen it from the stone beneath. “This deep behind Kovik lines?”

Realizing he had no hope of freeing the iron rod, he instead attempted to use his feet to push himself up and past it. But as his first foot found purchase, he was suddenly reminded that his fall had stolen the other. With only a bloody stump attached to his opposite leg, he slipped on the gore-soaked stones beneath him, tumbling back and falling deeper onto the object.

“Gyaah,” He wheezed, blood spraying past his lips. “Shit.”

Pinned by the iron reinforcement and unable to die thanks to the limited amount of healing potion he had just been forced to consume, Avii helplessly listened as combat drew nearer to him. Overhead, he watched as purple bolts from Kovik weapons cut upward through the haze, targeting something out of view. Then, without warning, the something returned fire. Flaming spheres, the size of trebuchet stones, burnt the air as they barreled through the dust and smoke. In an instant, explosions rocked the Kovik force.

Nearby, screams of men burning alive echoed out in the moments before one of the immolated bodies tumbled over the stones to Avii’s side. The flames licked at the mule, threatening to ignite him as he struggled to push the man’s flailing form away. As he did, the damned soul, melting away before his very eyes, reached out for help from the only being within reach.

Fighting to keep the hungry flames away while still struggling against the rod that held him in place, Avii noticed the sheathed weapon on the man’s chest. As the right moment presented itself, he pushed past the pain, stretching his body as far as it could go before swiping for the dagger. With a swift motion, he drew the blade and raised it high, plunging it down into the man’s temple in a single strike.

In an instant, the body fell limp, allowing Avii to push it away from him before lying back to the cold stone. He exhaled quick, exhausted breaths, releasing clouds of bloody mist with each weak gasp. With a single, deep breath, he grabbed at the rod with both hands, clenching his jaw as he attempted to pull it free once more. But the object still wouldn’t budge.

Potion or not, Avii knew that if he couldn’t remove the pole from his gut by the time the healing effects wore off, he would die. So, using the dagger he had stolen, he channelled magic into its blade and watched as it began to buzz. Holding it before him, he began to hack away at the iron rod with what energy he could muster. But each strike did little more than vibrate the object. Pain surged through him as he struck repeatedly, his head twisting back as he fought the urge to cry out in frustration.

That was when he saw it. A potion bottle behind him. The second one that his captors had been prepared to pour over him before the whole world fell apart. Uncorked with only some of the liquid spilled out, it rested precariously on the edge of stones next to a limp hand.

With a deep breath, Avii kicked at his one good foot and pushed against the pole in a failing attempt to reach. His fingers brushed at the stones around the elixir, rubbing against their rough surface, but it remained just beyond his grasp. Just beyond his ability to take hold of it. So, he moved on to his next strategy, stretching the dagger out and trying to carefully catch the edge of the bottle. And with every gentle flick of the blade, the object shifted. Adjusted. Until, finally, it tumbled, rolling away from view.

Defeated, Avii’s body fell limp. Lying there, his raspy breath slowly weakened as he felt the healing from the first potion beginning to wear off. As it did, his mind rushed, reminding him that if he had allowed the Kovik goons to administer the full dosage, he wouldn’t have been in his current situation. He would have been healing fast enough to have the strength to pull himself free or use the dagger to saw enough of his side away to slip from the rod. But there had been no way for him to know. No way for him to have guessed that the warfront was about to come for him.

Raising a hand, he rested a fist to his forehead.

“Think.” He whispered weakly. “Think.”

Suddenly, every hair on Avii’s body stood on edge as the caustic smell of magic saturated the air. Turning his head forward, he watched as something moved through the smoke and dust. Electricity arced from its body, connecting with stone and flesh as it moved with lumbering steps. Standing some ten to twelve feet tall, a slender body of white and grey metal, coated in blood, presented its intimidatingly simple form.

The creature before Avii was unlike anything he had ever seen. It had long, thin limbs that hovered in the air and were connected only by magic. At the joints, floating in place, glowing crystals of topaz and amethyst sparked excitedly with energy. On top of its elongated chest, floating another foot up from its smooth shoulders, a single gem as big as a man’s chest hovered and scanned the surrounding area.

In an instant, the stone shifted Avii’s way, locking gaze with him. It was then he noticed the light within its crystalline structure, like a single massive eye that constricted and dilated as it took in his form. Silently, the torso of this creature, a metal golem of unknown design, twisted atop its waist. Fully facing Avii, it leaned forward, reaching a large hand towards him. A collection of sharpened metalloid fingers, each one as long as the man’s forearm, spread wide as they neared.

Shifting against the pole, Avii drew his dagger and hoisted it towards the approaching threat. He coughed, sputtering more blood over himself as he prepared to fight back. At some point, whether it had been the thought of dying in a Kovika camp or the idea of being so close to freedom that it would have been a shame to pass on, he had regained his will to live. And so, even if it was hopeless, Avii would fight until the very end.

But, just as the hand was able to reach him, the electricity arcing from the body and striking all around his form, the golem stopped. Then, a resonating groan came from the metal being’s chest. It was dull and hollow but seemed to signify that something else had caught the attention of the creature.

Avii watched as the gemstone head turned in a different direction. The same hollow sound echoed once more before a light grew in brightness before the eye. A moment later, the same fireball he had seen earlier flew from the golem’s head, igniting smoke and dust in an instant. And then, as though it had remembered its purpose, the metallic form took off. From its standing position, it accelerated to a full sprint, disappearing into the dust at the speed of a galloping horse, leaving Avii to stare in shock.

“What the hells?” He coughed, blood spilling from his mouth as his body collapsed.

The last of Avii’s energy left him as he felt the healing tonic finally filter out of his system. The constant bleeding of his foot and chest wound stacked atop the flayed flesh, and every missing piece of his body had been simply too much for a single elixir. On top of that, he had pushed his body too far, and now it was time for the crash. So, with a huff, he rested his head back to the stone and wheezed.

“Avii,” Harbinger whispered into his mind. “You must survive. Survive.”

His heart thrashed with every whisper of the word. As though the entity telling him to survive kept him living just long enough to do so. Second by second, he was given more time. Borrowed time. But it was no use. There was nothing he could do. And even if Harbinger took control of his body, he was too weak to deal with the rod that pierced him.

“Survive. Survive. Survive.”

“Harbinger,” Avii whispered, blood slipping past his lips. “What are you? How are you—”

“Survive.” Harbinger insisted, its words keeping his heart beating. “You must survive. You have a purpose. Avii, survive.”

“I can’t,” He wheezed, whimpering as a tear rolled down his cheek, his body becoming colder by the second. “I-I—Harbinger. I want to see them again.”

“Survive. Avii, survive, for them.”

“Heh—ack!” Avii’s breaths became weak as the world around him grew quiet and dark. “I-I-I want Kani. Jeanine. I want to see them—”

“Live. For. Them.”

Avii’s vision began to narrow, growing darker by the second, until finally something broke through. A sound. A stone tumbling nearby. And, with a final flash of fight, he weakly raised his dagger. If he was to die, it would be from bleeding out and not at the hands of a Kovik.

But what Avii saw wasn’t a Kovik. It wasn’t even a human. It was an orc, one whose body was frail, but still strong enough to drag a sword along with him. He looked around wildly, his head twisting before finally catching sight of Avii and stumbling towards him.

“Knight...” Avii wheezed weakly.

“Mule...” Ostave whispered in reply.

“Come to watch me die?”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.”

And with a mighty swing of his sword, Ostave split the iron rod in half, casting sparks across the razed cell. Tossing the blade to his side, he reached down, pulling Avii from the ground and into his arms. He strained, struggling against the dead weight of the man, but still managing to free him from his imprisonment.

“Survive,” Harbinger whispered. “Avii—"

“I-I-I—” Avii attempted to reply to the entity, only to be cut off by the knight.

“Save your strength,” Ostave answered as he sat on the ground with Avii in his grasp. “And drink this…”