“My arms are too short to box with God.”

- Johnny Cash

Chapter 43

[Snake Report]

We're falling! Engineers- where we at?

Understood! Mana Crystals have dropped below 10 percent!

Armor plate integrity is being reduced to compensate! Earth Magic is being redirected!

Abandoning repairs on lower limbs! Gorf, that arm's done for! Drop it!

Outstanding order to all Engineering Golem: Abandon ship. Evacuation pods are forming now. Eject on my count, and I'll make sure you're all in range to regroup with Rocky. Keep in formation!

Gorf, drop the center armor plate on my signal! We'll let it take the lightning!

Pods ready!

Engineers! Abandon core three! I'm detatching the left knee below the joint. It's too far gone and it's costing mana! Collapse imminent! Too many stress fractures, it's going to crumble!

Three, Two... Pods Ejecting!

Gorf, get a hit in, push him back! Pulsing communication!

Calling all Golem. I repeat: Calling all Golem.

Regroup with Rocky. He's in command.

Pulse successful! Front armor plate, disengaged!

Gorf, get me an angle! I'm opening fire!

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Wing... Blocked!

No dice, Gorf! He's still coming for us!

Hold him back! I'll try and blind him again!

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

Shit.

Oh shit.

We're going down! I can't hold us up to block this one!

More lightning incoming!

Brace Gorf! BRACE!

ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAA-

[GREATER SPEAR OF SOUL]

Holy...

Holy crap.

What the hell was that?

Too much dust to see straight, but I think the Dragon just lost a wing and a half.

Sss...

Humans were holding out on us.

Gorf, we need to get back in there!

C'mon buddy. You can do it.

That damn lizard is already getting back up. We need to make this count.

Mana crystals... almost empty... Alright.

I'm prioritizing what's left of our mobility, dropping more armor. Plates three through twenty, disengaging.

Releasing what's left of the broken arm.

C'mon buddy. That's it. On your feet.

We got this.

We can do this.

Those new wounds aren't closing. There's no way he's got much more gas in the tank either,

That's it.

Up we go big guy. It ain't over til it's over. We don't lose until we don't get back up.

Let's bring this guy down.

We'll use gravity for this one.

Lean in, we'll hit the shoulder- I'll blind him, get that punch ready.

Good swing!

He's on the backfoot! Keep on him!

Hit! Keep swinging!

Hit!

That's it, Gorf! You've got him!

Hit!

Hit-

Tail-

TAIL! GORF, LOOK OUT FOR THE T-

....

[Talia]

Talia held onto Eveth, Faith flowing from her and a dozen others, as the Mage struggled to breathe. She watched as Eveth's hair, once a dark black, lost color. Fading away as if being drained, for the exception of whatever portion had been stained red by the blood dripping from her eyes and nose. Her hair now looked a ghostly white, and the Mage barely seemed alive. Even as every available healer focused on keeping her stable, Eveth's condition continued to worsen.

The price had been paid.

And it still hadn't been enough. The dragon had been badly wounded, but it had somehow withstood the attack. At the cost of a wing and significant injury, it remained standing.

Since then, the fight had turned increasingly vicious. Brutal swipes and jagged claws, raked the giant Golem. Armor was falling to the ground below in chunks and pieces, as the stone guardian returned the favor as best it could. Heavy punches caught the dragon with glancing blows. Blundering combos landed, as bones crunched, and the hits rained down from the Golem's remaining arm. Blasts of green fire erupted from its chest, blocking the dragon's sight as it tried to retaliate. Sometimes, they even seemed to exhaust out the back of the Golem's elbow, providing additional force for another swing.

But, as the melee continued: at last, the Golem's attacks found themselves blocked.

The Dragon's remaining wing, took a sickening hit. Blood sprayed from the wound- but that instant was all the Dragon needed.

People shouted in horror, as the beast struck out. Scaled tail of bloody red, whipping down and low: sweeping impossibly quick, to pull the Golem's weaker leg out from underneath it, toppling its balance. Then, rotating its entire body, the dragon swung its tail in a huge arc, to strike an overhead blow, that sent the Golem to the ground. Its exposed chest blasting green fire all the way down.

The Dragon roared, of victory.

Like a mountain, falling: the Golem all but crumbled in an avalanche of stone.

As the tail continued raining down blows upon it, more and more pieces fell away. The Golem's legs were broken, its armor was stripped, and any chance of retaliation seemed to be gone. Whatever feeble resistance it could manage, would never be enough.

Their last hope at survival, was being crushed, and there was nothing they could do.

Crashing like meteors to the ground, dozens more frog Golem rained down nearby. Seemingly launched from the larger Golem, they landed in messy rolls, before leaping back up with powerful legs. Each of them quickly began hopping, regrouping by the other stone warriors to form up into the growing shield wall in the front of the city. Whatever remaining Construct happened to be in their path, were ruthlessly smashed to pieces.

"Spirit!" Talia shouted, but there was no response. The Spirit was gone. Disappeared, it seemed, with Eveth's attack. "Anyone!"

"Attack!" Somewhere a shout rose up, as the weakened human defenders launched another salvo of spells and projectiles. They rained down on the Dragon, to almost no effect. Another cannon fired, aim horribly off. Talia saw a single cannon, somehow still mounted to the top of the city wall, break free and fall towards the ground below, as its shot exploded into the ground at the Dragon's feet.

That, at least, gave the creature pause.

Slowly, it turned its attention back towards the city, as if finally remembering they were still alive. As its gaze settled on the defenses, Talia felt a primal fear grip her. Those eyes seemed to press them down, pressure rising, as the Dragon's throat began to glow with gathering power. Slowly, it opened its jaws.

People reacted with shouts and panic. Barriers began to form. Magic and Faith were being hastily constructed, but even as layers took shape, Talia knew there was no chance they would be ready in time. All along the lines, the shield wall of Golem turned to one another. Then, their leader stepped forward. The largest and most fearsome, of the stone warriors, set a broken shield before it. Planting the jagged pieces harshly into the ground, its comrades formed up behind it in an arrowhead formation.

As the Dragon's lightning erupted, something not unlike a [Barrier] formed around the Golems. Talia didn't recognize it, but whatever ability was used, began cutting the blazing attack like a wedge, even as the power sought to tear directly through them.

Then, the weakest of the frogs, crumbled.

One by one, it was as if the magic holding them together, was dispersing. They fell directly into sand, cast to the wind in an instant. First one, then three, then ten. And yet the wedge held, formation still lead by their fearsome leader. The lightning was split in two directions, and it crashed down to either side of the defenses as the Golem wedge broke the attack. The echoes of the impacts buffeted the walls of the city, but missed its intended targets.

As the dust cleared: only that one Golem remained.

Broken shield gone, armor crumbling, the leading Golem stood as fearless as ever. Its stone face stared the dragon down, and with uneasy steps it began to charge forward alone. Running across the plains, towards certain death: The single warrior rushed at the mighty dragon.

Talia thought it looked much like a single ant, charging towards a giant.

But that ant wasn't alone.

"SO BE IT! WE FIGHT TO THE LAST! THE HAMMER FALLS TODAY!" The empowered shout rose up from the stunned defenses, as Alem broke from formation with his hammer raised towards the sky. "CHAAAAAAAARGE!"

"CHAAAAAAAARGE!" More and more shouts rose up, rallying to Alem's cry. More people joined him. Soldiers, Mages, Adventurers, people who couldn't be little more than civilians who'd picked up a fallen weapon. They ran after that brave Golem, heading towards certain death.

And as they did, the Dragon's attention shifted away from its original prey. The whipping tail it had been using to lash out with brutal swings, grew still, as it stared down at the puny resistance before it. The expression in those arrogant eyes, almost seemed offended as it turned towards the coming attackers. With what might have been a huff of laughter, Talia watched as the Dragon's throat began to charge with power once again. Its toothy maw spreading wide as the ripples of lightning began to form.

But distracted as it was, the Dragon didn't notice the massive Golem it had been seconds from ending, moved.

Slowly, carefully, painfully: Talia watched as the Golem reached with its only remaining arm and ripped out the glowing core from its own chest, and then threw it to the sky.

Up into the air, a speck of blue rose into the air on a comet of crystal and stone.

And then, at last, the mighty mountain of stone fell foward. Crashing down to the ground, the giant Golem crumbled entirely to dust.