by E. M. Hardy
The larger construct stood tall, examining its surroundings. Its gaze settled upon the creature perched on a ledge up on the ridge, the attention of the smaller constructs locked upon it. The construct seemed to consider itself for a moment before it snapped forward at speeds that belied its great bulk.
It bounded off a rock, then another, before jumping up and catching the surprised creature with its clawed paws, dragging the bleeding creature down to the ground. The yelping creature struggled futilely as the big sphinx mauled it repeatedly with its paws, the smaller hieracosphinxes contributing with their beaks. Soon enough, all that remained was a bloodied mass of flesh and fur that stirred no more.
Drawn by the commotion, other powerful creatures of the jungle began peering into the ridge. A mighty scaled lizard with long rows of razor-sharp teeth, a great muscled ape dangling from a thick branch, a hovering insect with rows of toughened chitin and massive wings that filled the air with a deep droning—these and many others were drawn by the yowls of the dying and the scent of blood in the air.
And through it all, armies of hieracosphinxes did battle with the creatures of the jungle while the sphinxes stood tall above them, serving as beacons of clear command and raw brawn. The little dolls around them began erecting obelisks to extend their range, and they began to slowly but surely carve a path of death and destruction within the thick greenery. They gradually spread out, casting a winding web of death and destruction in all directions.
There were times when they were stopped in their tracks by creatures more powerful than themselves, but they always came back. There were always more sphinxes and hieracosphinxes—always. The creatures powerful or numerous enough to beat them either ran away after the first few encounters or were ground down by attrition. And so they kept marching, fighting, and building. Day after day, night after night, week after week. They set a gruelingly slow pace, but they were relentless in their pursuit of the all-encompassing directive handed down to them by a defective Builder satellite floating high above them.
To exterminate.