by Billy Wong
Dropping off the distraught Len at his great-grandfather's house not knowing what else to do with him, the family went to Birwan, Amber still barely able to ride but too eager to test her theory to slow down and rest. Her face lit up to find Derrick present at the magic center, and she scarcely took adequate time to explain when he met them in the lobby before rushing downstairs to find the statue they'd given into his care. Finn stayed with his old friend to clarify the situation while Jacob followed his sister, panting as he struggled to keep up.
"Damn," he gasped between gulps of air, "you sure move fast for a girl who's still healing a bunch of broken bones!"
"If they weren't healed at all, I probably still wouldn't care!" she joked—Jacob hoped it was a joke—while they ran.
Finding the statue nestled amid a roomful of assorted relics in the basement, he was surprised by how poorly Derrick had organized them, though he supposed the scholar might be too busy to arrange them all neatly. Still, he could have hired somebody. Amber snapped him out of his aesthetic considerations as she shoved things noisily out of the way to reach the statue. "Here goes!" she announced, her excitement blazing.
First she put the sword in the statue's right hand, to no visible effect. Then, she strapped the shield to its left arm. Finally she placed the open helmet on its head and and latched it shut. Nothing happened. "Crap!"
"Looks like you were wrong," Jacob said as he'd been prepared to, but ignoring him she unstrapped the shield from its left arm and started to attach it to the right arm after removing the sword from its grip. "That's not going to work," he said exasperatedly, "it's not magical in the first place."
"Shut up!" Unwilling to admit defeat so easily, she put the sword into the statue's left hand, completing the switch. Still nothing happened. "Dammit, why don't you move..."
Jacob turned to leave as Amber kicked the statue's groin, not even budging the solid metal figure. But when he reached the steps, he heard a grinding sound behind him, and spun to see the statue stretching like it awakened from a long sleep. Amber backed away to his side, and they watched in awe while the golem magically grew, expanding to touch and then break the basement ceiling. Seeing the now silver-colored construct being restored to its true magnificence, Jacob smiled. This was the weapon that would defeat the demon lord!
#
Derrick stumbled as the whole building shook and Finn grabbed his friend to steady him, demanding, "What the hell is going on?"
"What are your kids up to?" the scholar replied, and that was enough to enlighten Finn. The statue was doing this! Sure enough, its head poked through the floor, and it continued to grow larger. It broke too through the ceilings of the first, second, and third floors before stopping just shy of the top of the fourth floor. Counting the part still in the basement, it must've been over fifty feet tall. He could practically feel power radiating from the golem and readied himself for battle though he doubted even his ability to fight this gigantic silvery engine of destruction. Its smooth shell remained unscratched after smashing through feet of stone, hinting at nigh invulnerability. To his relief though, it did not attack, but began to speak.
The metal lips of its face/helm moving to talk as if live flesh, it said, "I see I have been called. The great threat to the world must not be over if I am needed."
Praying that this thing hadn't inadvertently crushed his kids in its growth, Finn took a moment to gather his thoughts before he replied, "Yes, the power of the demon lord you were made to defeat once again roams the land, though wielded by another. He has defeated our time's greatest hero, and now we look to you to save us." Saying it hurt him terribly, and he wished he could delude himself into believing otherwise, even live in a world of dreams where his love was still with him. Oh, Rose... what had she ever done to deserve her awful fate?
"That is what I was created for," the golem replied matter-of-factly. "Tell me where he is, and I will fulfill my purpose."
Finn wanted to, but had to admit, "I don't know exactly where he is, though I know he's looking for us—me and my kids. I guess you'll be the special surprise we give him."
It seemed slightly confused, but said, "Yes."
Derrick frowned contemplatively. "So you talk like a person—can you think like one, too?"
"I believe so, if my belief is not merely an illusion of my creation. I have been doing a lot of that in the time since my sealing."
Finn gaped. "You've been awake all this time?" He couldn't even imagine being stuck, conscious but unable to move or do anything, for so many years.
"Yes," it said in the same emotionless tone. "Is that odd?"
Finally Jacob and Amber joined them upstairs, Finn relieved they were all right, and together they marveled at the massive instrument of the ancients. But Derrick, who had fought another living weapon from the Old World called the Spelldrinker alongside Rose, was not quite ready to trust in the benevolence of this one. "If you're the protector of the world, why were you sealed away for so many centuries? Wouldn't it have been more logical to leave you functional so you could keep watch over us?"
"I do not know why. I was told to break myself up into my component parts before facing the demon lord, to become inert until they were reunited."
"Do you remember anything from before then that might explain it?"
"No."
Amber put in, "Well, maybe they just sealed him because he doesn't have enough magical energy stored to keep running around for long. Like if he stays... uh, active, for lack of a better word, he'll soon run out and become immobile?"
The golem did not reply. Finn crossed his arms over his chest. "Now, how are we going to get this metal man out of the building?" There appeared to be no way besides having it walk through the floors and walls, being much too tall for any doors. The Birwan center for magical study seemed doomed to be destroyed. But then Finn asked, "Can you shrink back down?"
"Yes. I assume you wish for me to avoid further damaging this structure?"
Derrick nodded and said harshly, "Though you could have just refrained from growing indoors when you woke."
"It was my natural inclination," it said, and shrank down to its original size. Just after its eyes vanished below floor level, Derrick flashed it a dirty gesture.
#
"So it appears as if no one was able to achieve my mission," the cloak-covered golem said as it took a look from outside the center around the city of Birwan. "If only I had been there to complete it."
"What do you mean?" Jacob asked. "Didn't the ancients defeat the demon lord, even without you?"
"Yes, but they were unable to save the world they and I came from. Look, this is not that place, but a far simpler and less enlightened society. The shining civilization of magic is dead, and a barbarians' nation has taken its place."
Not too pleased to hear the world she knew and was comfortable with talked about that way, Amber said, "It's not so bad. We haven't destroyed ourselves yet at least, even though we've had to fend off so many threats created in your time as well as our own."
When the golem didn't respond, Jacob added, "We are slowly bringing magic back now, so maybe someday, your kind of world will be restored."
Finn scoffed. "Hopefully it won't be a world of the same mistakes as theirs. So do you have a name, metal man?"
"My creators called me the last hope."
"Hope? That's a girly name, and you seem more like a man, but in any case, welcome to the team."
"I care little about this concept of 'team.' Take me to my adversary."
Finn held his head. "We told you ten minutes ago that we didn't know where he is! Don't you have some sort of magic demon-locating sense or something?"
"No." It paused and said uncertainly, "But I do feel a growing... anxiety, as if I know dangerous times are approaching."
Was the golem nervous about facing its destined foe? It wouldn't have been surprising in a human, but for a hunk of metal seemed rather odd to Finn. "Are you scared of the demon lord?"
&
nbsp; "I am not sure if I would call it fear."
Amber put it a different way for him. "Would you be happier if you didn't have to fight him?"
"No, I must fight him. It is the reason for which I exist, and in my very essence to seek that confrontation."
Giving up the exploration of golem emotions with a shrug, Finn asked, "So what can you do in a fight? Do you just try to crush your demon lords with that big metal body like they're insects, or do you have other tricks too?"
A bright glow appeared within its mouth, and before anyone could tell it to stop, out shot a beam of white light which blasted a door-sized hole in a nearby wall. Though luckily no one was injured—or worse—people who'd witnessed the discharge screamed and ran in fear for their lives. Seeing the fair bit of property damage caused by the casual shot, Finn bit his lip at the thought of the beam's size and power when Hope was at full size. Damn, that thing could shatter a building!
"What did you do that for?!" Jacob demanded. "That's somebody's wall!"
"It is easily repairable damage. You needed a demonstration of my abilities, did you not?"
"You could have just told us... can you do anything else? And this time don't show, just tell."
"I can change the elements used in my attack to produce many different effects, including blasts which affect only living creatures, but not the objects you apparently so value, by striking at their souls directly. And I can strike with my weapons, of course."
So the golem could use soul magic, manipulating the fifth and most difficult to harness element of the world? It figured considering the thing had been created by the powerful ancients, but full knowledge of its powers was scary nonetheless. What if it someday decided to rebel against humanity? It did seem to have a mind, and if it put that mind to violence, there would be no easy way to stop it...
Putting that worry aside, Finn asked, "Why did they make you so big? You seem a bit awkwardly large to fight the demon lord, at full size."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you're much bigger than him. Or are you just so big to squish him easily?"
Hope stated plainly, "I am not larger than the demon lord, we are the same size."
That wasn't true! Justin just about matched Finn in size, now that he'd grown some from his human form, and was nowhere close to the golem. Unless... had the old demon lord been larger, and probably more powerful? "How big was he? I think our current enemy is much smaller than the one your time faced."
"He was about ten feet taller than I can be, but lighter. Are you saying the new wielder of his energies is not? Perhaps your demon lord has not recovered his full strength."
It had struck Finn as somewhat odd that Rose, as strong as she was, had always been such a good match in single combat against a being wielding the power that had threatened the whole world. Too, they'd never seen Justin use the advanced magic which targeted the soul itself, in spite of the demon lord's supposed vast arcane might. Now it all made sense, and Finn felt content knowing Hope was designed to face much worse than what they did.
"Likely," he said, "and I can't say I'm not glad for it. It looks like you have an easy job ahead of you, then."
Hearing that nothing bad had happened in Gustrone yet, the family went home with their new ally in tow to meet their enemy when he came. Hope didn't protest when asked to wait outside in human size, ready to grow and join the battle. But when Finn and his children went upstairs, they got a nasty shock to see Justin awaiting them at the entrance of the hallway that led to their rooms. Apparently he had snuck into the city and their dwelling instead of announcing his arrival with brute force, circumventing those who might have warned them.
Whether by luck or design this was a well-chosen battleground, for so far into the tower the family would be hard pressed to alert the golem outside. Even if they could, Hope would hardly be able attack through the tower at full size without putting the humans at much risk. Justin grinned, showing off his pointy teeth. "It's time for you to die, you cockroaches. Now that you've lost your queen, this time there will be no one to save you from your final extermination."
For a moment, Finn imagined it was all over, that indeed their end had come. Then he remembered how his late wife would chide him for even considering the thought of giving up and charged, screaming as he rushed the blue bastard, "Run, kids, get help!"
#
"What foolish futility!" Justin taunted as his backhanded punch sent Finn flying against the wall at the end of the hall, almost going out the window. They had been fighting for several minutes now, and though Finn had been able to barely hold on without anything to distract him from his opponent, Justin seemed to have become stronger than ever and rapidly wore him down. Even so, Finn wondered if he was taking his time on purpose, toying with him.
What if the fiend had absorbed Rose's essence to make himself stronger after killing her? The mere thought of such drove Finn to new heights of anger, and with his growing rage came strength and, surprisingly enough, focus. For all their intensity, he set Justin up cleverly with his next series of attacks, so that after a dodged kick and fireball from behind meant to throw him off, the impact of his lightning-charged mace shook the stone tower in which they fought as it hurled Justin to the ground.
"Rose will be avenged!" he cried as he followed up on his mighty blow, magically forming jaws of stone from the floor around Justin to snap them shut on his body. He didn't even care if he lost his humanity, he just wanted this monster to die...
The demon broke free with moderate effort. "You don't even have your wife to save you. How can you expect to have a chance?"
Finn reeled as he shielded his face from a roaring cylindrical blast of flame, but struck Justin with that same shield as he charged forward. He followed up the shield bash with a mace hit which resulted in another knockdown, leapt upon the demon and crushed his nose. Justin pushed him off and staggered up, glaring at him. "You seem stronger than before. How is it that your wife's loss didn't break you?"
"I thought I'd be broken too," Finn admitted as he rolled out of the way of a spray of ice shards, "but I had to go on, seeing as I'm only parent our children have left now. Rose would never let me join her in heaven if she knew I let them down."
"Fool—your heroine burns in hell!"
Finn's steps slowed as fright for Rose suffering's gripped his heart. Justin flew into him, knocking him down with a hard shoulder to the chest, but then he remembered how who had been the one to drag her into hell after him. Rage again replaced his fear. He dove away and surprised Justin with a spell chanted in mid-roll, impaling him through the thigh on a spike of stone called up from below as he followed.
The demon thrashed and tried to get free, but Finn was on him, smashing him with blow after heavy blow. For a few exhilarating moments, he felt invincible, a spirit of vengeance on the cusp of avenging his wife. Then Justin caught him with a sudden punch to the throat and he fell choking, unable to breath. If the demon had used his claws he'd already be dying, but as it was he was still helpless, incapacitated for what would likely be his last seconds. Justin pulled himself off the spike and laughed. "Even your desperate hope was no match for my resolve. In the end, I win."
"No!" Finn heard Amber scream. She'd better brought Hope back with her, lest...
"What is that?" Justin asked, confusion in his voice.
"Your doom," Hope's still-flat monotone answered, and Finn looked up to watch a white beam engulf his enemy. He turned to see that though the golem was still human-sized, it had expanded the energy blast issuing from its mouth to cover Justin's whole body. Witnessing the ability it hadn't shown before, Finn wondered at the true extent of its power.
"What? What are you? You seem so familiar, where..." Justin's voice trailed off as he seemed to disintegrate, turning translucent and then fading away so that Hope's bright light filled the space where he had stood a moment ago.
"Dad! Are you alright?" Amber yelled running to his side, and Jacob followed with equal conce
rn on his face.
Finn recovered enough to smile, the bit of shame at failing to beat Justin himself drowned out by relief. He could scarcely believe how readily the demon lord had gone down to the golem's attack, but then he'd seen it with his own eyes. "I'm okay. It's all over, thank the gods. Your mom can finally rest in peace."
Chapter 10
Now that the threat of Justin was gone, Finn wasted no time reopening the Center for Magical Study in Gustrone and gave Hope again into Derrick's care. Though it'd fulfilled its purpose, the golem did not seem ready to go back into stasis, instead wanting to learn more about how the world had changed since the era of its creation.
At first, Derrick found Hope a cooperative if unenthusiastic (nor emotional in any other way) subject of study, and found its company inoffensive though a tad awkward. After only a few days, however, he noticed to his surprise growing edginess in its voice as it expressed a desire to go out alone, which Derrick couldn't allow. Was it bored? But it'd survived centuries in limbo just fine...
As it fidgeted without end while Derrick tried to sketch it for future reference, he asked exasperatedly, "What is happening with you? It's like you're turning into a human, and a rather disagreeable one at that."
"I am the same as I used to be," the creature insisted. "Perhaps it is the environment that is ill-suited to me."
"What environment do you think you'd do better in? I wouldn't have expected a walking hunk of metal to want to be so social."
"I am also a thinking hunk of metal."
"You said you were awake for hundreds of years while immobile—shouldn't you be used to not getting out much?"
"Just because one survives something does not mean they prefer it." Hope's voice grew distant. "After a while of being trapped in yourself, you stop thinking cohesive thoughts, and dream. And in dreams, you can find a world where every place is a paradise. Where you never have to be unhappy. But then too, there are nightmares even in that realm... at least, there are always new and wonderful horizons to be sought."