by Felix Craft
The other guard snorted. “I’m sure there were. Is the cargo safe?”
I had to resist the urge to look at Leesha. They couldn’t just be talking bales of hay. They could see that readily enough. Was there something underneath?
Fortunately, Leesha had caught on as well, and nodded. “They didn’t know it was there.”
“That’s what matters,” the first guard said. He nodded to his companion, and they set to opening the gate. “Deliver that straight to the chamberlain. No delay. She’ll know if you do.”
Great, another kink in the plan. Still, as I awkwardly whipped the packhorses back into motion — I wasn’t exactly a natural at driving a horse-drawn cart — I couldn’t help but sigh with relief that we’d at least entered the castle. The first stage of the plan was through. Now we just had to get through the castle and up the tower. Past forty more guards.
I sighed. This promised to take a while.
As soon as we were in the courtyard, I looked around for somewhere to park the cart, but saw no obvious places. A glance at Leesha told me she didn’t know any better. I pulled it over the cobblestones to the side of the road then slid off, making my way around to the back of the cart to see what cargo had warranted two guards, a fact I only now realized was pretty strange for transporting a pile of hay. Leesha walked up beside me and nodded to continue.
Diving into the hay, I searched around for a minute before my gloved hand found the grip of a wooden bar. Hauling it out, I exposed a flat chest made of black, carved wood with a burnished metal lining around the edges. “What is it?”
Leesha was staring at it with a hunger I’d only seen when she talked about the tournament prize money. “I think a case of runestones.”
“Runestones?”
Though no one was around, Leesha put a warning finger to her lips. “Yes,” she whispered as she leaned close and traced her fingers over the carvings. “Runestones are used to enchant items, imbue them with whatever specific power they designate. They’re worth thousands, not to mention damned useful.”
I glanced furtively around the courtyard. “Well, let’s nab them, if they’re so valuable.”
She looked at me like I was an idiot. “And alert the whole castle to thieves in their midst? We’ll be caught before we get through the kitchens.”
“What are we supposed to do?” I scratched my head, contemplating the loss. “Just deliver them like we’re expected?”
“That’s exactly what we’ll do.” Leesha wrested the case from me, grunting a bit with the weight of it. “Heavier than it looks. Now come on. We have to go find that chamberlain.
Wondering why the hell Leesha wasn’t more tempted, I begrudgingly followed her.
We relinquished our hard-earned prize to the chamberlain with disappointment, then quickly faded away from her scrutinizing gaze and unasked questions. Leesha kept me on task though, leading me to the kitchens under the pretense of grabbing food — which I did manage to do, grabbing a couple rolls to munch on and stave off a lingering hunger — then we made our way to the first of the two checkpoints. With our disguises inappropriate to our destination, it still looked like we’d have to fight if we couldn’t sneak around, and as soon as I saw the checkpoint, I knew that wasn’t going to happen. The doorway to the stairs we needed to ascend was narrow and flanked by guards on either side, with watchful, suspicious eyes looking down the halls either way. If they hadn’t happened to be glancing the opposite direction from me when I peeked, I would have been seen for sure.
Leesha, seeing the guards there, pressed me back against the wall. “Okay, here’s the deal,” she said so softly her words were barely more than breath. “The sound of a struggle will draw more guards, so I’m going to try something.”
“Something?” I whispered back. I stared at the turn of the hallway, half-expecting a guard to amble around it at any moment.
“A skill I know. It allows me to throw two daggers at two targets in rapid succession.”
That sounded useful. “So, what’s the problem?” I asked quietly.
Her eyebrows drew down. “It has a high failure rate — fifty percent. I could just as easily miss both.”
I thought about it. It sounded like that skill of hers was our best shot, but we needed a plan B. An idea occurred to me. “Do you have a bow or something?” I asked. “Or maybe a javelin?”
Her brow shot up. “Yes!”
I flinched at the volume of her reply and glanced up the hallway again.
But she was already holding out her hands, and pixels mutated into five or so javelins about four feet in length. I took them carefully, cringing when the wood shafts clattered together.
Watching me with them, she seemed to reconsider. “You know how to throw one of those?”
I gave her a mocking smile. Not only had I been the quarterback in high school, I’d also done track and field. In particular, a little event called javelin. “I think I’ll be all right.”
“Okay, on three. One … two …”
Continuing with our usual miscommunication on countdowns, she didn’t say “three,” but spun around the corner and launched her daggers. I was after her a second later, one missile hefted in my hand and drawn back to launch.
One guard clutched his throat and coughed up blood, but the other turned back toward us, bewilderment fading to rage. I only had seconds before he called the alarm, so I let it fly.
The javelin slammed into his midriff, but the guard was wearing armor, so it didn’t pierce. However, I’d apparently put enough force behind it that it made him stumble and knocked the air from his lungs. He gasped hoarsely as he fumbled for his weapon. Leesha was already running forward, a knife in either hand, and just as the guard withdrew his sword and slashed, she parried and stabbed into his neck. He went down, limp as a rag doll, a moment later.
I walked over to join her.
“Well done,” she whispered. “None of that noise was out of the ordinary. I think we’re safe. But we’d better pull these guards away and go quickly. I’d bet it won’t be long before someone notices they’re missing.”
I nodded, and after collecting my thrown javelin, I put all five of them in my inventory and helped Leesha haul the bodies through the doorway and under the alcove beneath the stairs. Their feet still stuck out for anyone to see, but at least they weren’t in the doorway anymore. That done, Leesha motioned me onward, and with one of her throwing daggers drawn, she started up the stairs, then paused a moment.
“Next time,” she said, “aim for the face.”
I nodded, thinking the same thing. And as much as I resented her telling me what to do, it was good to get a confirmation of that.
We crept up the stairs, the steps circling up and up, never ending, like some kind of joke escalator that we couldn’t tell was moving. I was just wondering where the second checkpoint was when Leesha held up a hand. A man and woman were talking in the stairwell above us.
“You know,” the man said, “I’ve been thinking.”
“There’s a surprise,” the woman muttered.
“About you, and me. Us.”
“Here we go again.”
The man’s voice took on a pleading tone. “Just give me a shot, Eliza. Just one chance. I’ll show yah I can be good to yah.”
The woman snorted. “You don’t feed a stray because it comes right back. Just keep your eyes on the stairs, or I’ll cut them out.”
“Eliza —”
There was a hissing of steel being drawn. “I’m not messing around,” the woman said in a low, dangerous voice. “Leave me alone now, you hear?”
“Loud and clear.”
Silence fell for a moment, and I heard the sound of knife being sheathed.
“But—” the man started up again.
“For all the gods, didn’t I tell you—!” the woman fumed.
Leesha motioned me to attack, so we jogged up the stairs and immediately went at the arguing pair. It didn’t take much to dispatched them. Leesha threw
a dagger at Eliza. It went a bit awry, lodging in her shoulder, but before the woman could react, Leesha pounced with a knife and finished her off. My javelin scored home, and the hapless fellow crumpled to the ground with the shaft halfway through the back of his skull. I winced as I stared at the sight. No way was I retrieving that javelin.
Leesha rose, wiping her dagger on her leg, and indicated the stairs with a nod. “Onward and upward.” As she set up them again, I followed close behind.
The lord’s chambers were just a few flights further up. But as we came near, Leesha held up a hand in warning, then crept forward a bit more. She came back a moment later. “One last checkpoint,” she whispered. “A big motherfucker in armor.”
I swallowed. We were both in leathers and couldn’t change without making some racket. Which would be better though — getting cut in half handily or giving it a bit of resistance?
Leesha seemed to be thinking the same thing as me. “Equip your armor,” she instructed.
Going to my inventory, I selected my armor and, finding an option I hadn’t noticed before, I selected Auto-Equip. Rather than having to strip my armor off and put it back on, my leather armor faded into my hardier armor. But that made me frown. Before, when she’d done that in the alley, she’d been near naked for a moment, which hadn’t happened with me. Had she done that on purpose? Or was it some sick joke of Danny’s just to do that to woman characters?
Leesha confirmed my suspicions when winked at me. Then her expression went serious again. “You keep him distracted. I’ll try and get at him from behind.” She hesitated, then said, “Good luck, Zane.”
My eyes narrowed. “We’re not going to die here. It’s the last guard, right?”
She raised an eyebrow at me, then shook her head and began ascending upright, not bothering to hide. Wondering at that, I followed a moment later, the rattle of my armor uncomfortably loud now.
As soon as I ascended the landing, the last guard came into view. I understood why Leesha had seemed so skeptical. This wasn't just a big guy — he was a fucking behemoth. If he played football, he’d have been a 350-pound defensive lineman, easy. He stared dumbly from under his horned helmet, dark eyes not seeming to even track our movement as we walked onto the landing.
“How do you like the look of your first golem?” Leesha said in a low voice from next to me. Her eyes didn’t leave the massive thing.
“Like I like seeing pubes,” I retorted.
She shook her head and said something that might have been “Fucking boys…”
We both shifted into ready stances as the golem moved, one massive metal arm reaching back for the hilt above its shoulder. I took advantage of the moment to mutter, “Command: Analyze.”
Armored Golem
Level: 15
Race: Golem
HP: 350/350
SP: 70/70
MP: —/—
Weakness: At the point of their animating rune.
Mostly bad news, as I’d expected. Even Leesha was only Level 11, and as I was a 4, I didn’t know how much good I’d be. Apparently good enough for a punching bag. Still, if Leesha could get to that animating rune, maybe we stood a chance.
The golem was finished drawing what ended up being a giant sword a tall as I was. My throat suddenly constricted, like ghostly hands pressed it closed. I managed to ask Leesha, “You’re going for the rune?”
She nodded, not taking her eyes off our foe. “Unfortunately, it’s probably under the armor. That’s where I’d put it, at least.”
I risked a look over. “Probably? You have fought one of these before, right?”
“Uh, no. I did see someone fight one once. A while ago.”
I grit my teeth. I was about to be in a world of pain, and my companion had barely any more idea than I did what we were doing. This was going to go well.
Without preamble, the armored giant took one heavy step forward, then another, the floor vibrating with each step. Leesha skirted to one side of it, so I sidled to the other, letting her get behind it. In my hands, I held my remaining javelins, gripping them hard and hefting one to throw as I watched.
The golem didn’t shift its head — I was beginning to doubt it could — but its next step turned it toward me. It was hard not to turn tail and run when six hundred pounds pounds of metal and magic — I was doubting my earlier guess with every step — was bearing down on me. But instead of panicking, I let myself fall into the state of mind I had during every game, where actions just flowed and thoughts fell off as irrelevant. Not wasting another moment, I drew back and hurled my first javelin.
It hit the mark, hitting the open visor where his dark eyes watched. But instead of lodging firmly in like I’d hoped, it clattered to the ground, leaving behind a dark dent in the golem’s forehead. I didn’t know if it was my imagination or not, but its eyes seemed to burn all the darker for it, and its pace hurried toward me.
Fear held my hand again, and making it shake bad. “Leesha!” I yelled. I was nearly within range of that massive sword, and I was out of space to back away.
At that moment, she struck from behind, sparks flying as her knives scraped off its back. It wasn’t all ineffective, though. An armor piece from its shoulder — a pauldron, I thought Leesha had called it at one point — fell away. There were no glowing shapes on the hard gray flesh, however. She’d have to keep searching for the rune.
The golem paused, seeming to consider who it should go for, then it took another step toward me. One last step and it could sever me in half with a swing of its sword. I put away the rest of my javelins and drew my battle-axe, holding it in both hands while taking a wide stance, ready as I’d ever be. “Come on, you big bucket of a bastard,” I taunted. “Tractor trailer piece of shit. You tin man on steroids—” Man, I really needed to work on my insults.
But there wasn’t time at the moment, for the golem took the last step and swung. For how slow it normally moved, its sword swing was incredibly fast, and I barely got my axe up in its path, for all the good it did me. The golem hit like a sledgehammer, and as its sword first knocked aside my battle-axe then whacked into my breastplate, I was thrown back, all the breath knocked from my lungs. A big dent in my armor promised to keep it that way. I barely noticed the blow from the floor, dazed as I slid across the stone.
It was good the golem was so slow-moving, for it took me a good thirty seconds to just sit up and watch it slowly start for me again. But I saw behind it — Leesha, lashing forward again. Then its breastplate sagged as some of the straps were cut loose.
This time, though, the golem wasn’t having it. Whirling around again with that impossible speed, its sword cut toward Leesha. Only an acrobatic roll saved her from her two halves so-longing, and she got to her feet a safe distance away, wearing a savage grin as she stared down the golem.
It was my turn now. Rising was a bitch, a complaint validated by the 30 HP hit I’d taken, but I did it all the same, then ran at the golem, axe raised like a lumberjack. Reaching it, I chopped down where I saw Leesha’s knives had been at work, severing the exposed ties to the breastplate and sending it to the floor with a crash.
I grinned for a moment in victory, then the golem pivoted again, its sword scything around toward me. This time, I didn’t bother trying to block it, but threw myself backwards. My dodge only partially worked, as the tip of the giant blade clipped my hip. I gritted my teeth as I slammed to the floor again, my leg burning, a fresh splash of red pouring down my pants.
But the golem was bearing down on me, so there was no time to moan. Using my battle-axe as a crutch, I stumbled to my feet and limped away from the giant armored creature. “Is it there?” I yelled back to Leesha.
“No!” she called back.
My heart sank.
“We’ll have to dig deeper!” She accentuated her words with another flashing attack.
The golem’s posture or expression didn’t shift, but from the way it turned again and swatted at Leesha, it seemed to be growing more and
more agitated. Another piece of armor had fallen away, revealing what resembled a metal skirt about its waist. Still, no good news came from Leesha. It was my turn again.
Groaning, I forced my battered body into a run and charged the golem. It didn’t work out so well. Apparently anticipating my attack, it turned early and caught me in the leg with its sword. I went spinning to the ground, one of my legs feeling as if it had been shorn off. Crawling away and numb with pain, I didn’t dare look down.
But through the throbbing of pain in my head, I heard a triumphant cry behind me. “Found you!” Leesha whooped, and a moment later, a sound like metal in a garbage crusher screeching in my ears.
Blinking, I looked around. The armored golem was crumpled into itself, and my companion stood over it with a grin. “We got it!” She nudged the shrunken steel with her toe. The elation faded to amazement as she realized what that meant. “I didn’t think there was any way we would.”
“Yeah, well, I can take blows lesser men can’t.” The bravado helped the pain, a little at least. It didn’t, however, help keep me from almost fainting when I looked down at my near severed leg.
Leesha walked over and examined it. “You’ve had worse. From the look of your armor when you came back from Old Man Jenkins, I’d guess you’ve actually lost limbs before. This is getting off easy.”
My HP was down to 43, and she said I got off easy. “Just give me a health potion.”
Shrugging, she complied. “But only because we have to get moving. We’re pretty isolated from the rest of the tower, but I don’t want to risk anyone having heard all that. Let’s get the banner and get out of here.”
I nodded, and before my wound had closed up, I was hauling myself up and after my companion. I grimaced when looking at the stairs, but fortunately, I could see it only went up one more flight. We were almost at the warlord’s chambers.
Reaching the door, Leesha carefully looked around the frame, fingers gingerly brushing it. After trawling through the bandit’s lair together, I guessed she was looking for traps. Apparently satisfied, she tried twisting the door handle, and to my surprise, the door opened. She lifted her eyebrows at me.