Dust to Dust: Monster 14

Trapped

-

It wasn't going well.

-

Branches of dark oak missed the golem by an inch. They were deceptively fast. The eye would watch them and think that their huge size made them slow, but then the living whip would crack and explosively fire forward. One had caught the wolf on his left hind leg, blowing it clear off. He could still fight, but mobility was low until he was able to fully reform the limb.

-

The wolf's searing blade was stuck in the tree's lower jaw, still sizzling away at the corrupt bark. He had speared it there in hopes that a fire would start in the maw's splintered wood, but there was no such luck. Now the golem was out a weapon and a leg. All that remained was the few functioning pipes of the air system and his fangs and claws.

-

But there was no backing down. Even more dark ents blocked the only exit, he had to fight or die. Or as was looking more and more probable, fight AND die.

-

Could he die? He hadn't thought about it yet. If his core was destroyed, or maybe if his body was? Both? Neural passageways began to blaze once more as the golem pondered his own existence. He was close, so very close to realizing himself. Self-consciousness loomed, and the ability to determine his own fate would soon follow. He would soon be a master of his own fate as a sentient being.

-

But he was not there yet. The nature of the golem's intense self-inquiry made him slow his dodging of the branch whips, and he was sent skidding across the stone floor for his foolishness. The questions would have to wait.

-

Seeing no way to defeat the abomination of wood and shadow without his sword, the three-legged canine jumped into the snapping branches and grasping tendrils. The tree tore chunks out of the tar sand wolf while rasping "MINE MINE MINE," grasping for something that it couldn't seem to find.

-

The wolf was dropped, forgotten, as the ent crashed across the room, covering entire swaths of the floor with its grasping roots.

-

And then, a twinkle rising from the ground. The tree had found its prize. The locket was raised to its face, and a shadow slipped out to enjoy the locket in person.

-

Taking advantage to the specter that seemed to be in rapture as it beheld the trinket, the wolf darted back to the front of the tree. The still scorching sword easily fell out of the charred wood that held it, and the golem was armed once more.

-

Retreating back behind the stone tablet, the golem repaired its leg with stone dust from the wall and more black liquid from the basin. A few copper pipes were exchanged with ones torn from the wall, and he was soon fully functional once more, if armorless. But there was no time.

-

The only way to survive was to kill the tree already in the chamber, and block the rest off. Make them lose interest. Give them the locket they craved and make it through the siege alive. Which required taking the locket from the possessed ent currently worshipping it. It was never a good idea to come between a predator and something it cared for, but there was no choice.

-

Blazing cherry red, the forged sword neatly sliced through the tree's largest writhing root and charred the stump. Enraged, the shadow pulled back into the ent and resumed his assault on the wolf. However, due to the distraction of the trinket and the loss of his main root for balance, the tree was easily topped when-

-

WHUMP

-

-it was impacted by a concussive blast of air. Pieces of splintered wood were sent flying, along with a single sparkling piece of jewelry.

-

The golem leaped over the stunned dark ent and took the locket into his body, bringing it into his internal air storage. A few short breaths later, and the payload was ready to go. He climbed to the top of the stairwell and looked out at the crowd of sighing and screeching botanical monstrosities. Bracing himself for launch, he aimed the copper cannon far into the distance and readied to shoot. A quiet -whump- later and the locket was sent on its way, all of the gathered abominations following it with their gaze, and then their bodies. The wolf was satisfied at the success of his plan, and began tearing down the surrounding stone in order to block himself safely in. Safely in with the large, infuriated creature that was still alive in the chamber below.

-

A tendril wrapped around his torso and heaved him back down the staircase, down into the gaping jaws of the dark ent. As the jagged wooden teeth gnashed into his body, tearing his form asunder, his body was pressed against the blazing blade.

-

His oily tar sand body.

-

The following explosion completely destroyed the stairway, causing a rockslide to block it all the way down the chamber. Black oily smoke licked away at the rubble, burning any remaining pieces of corrupted wood that survived the original blast.

-

Hours passed and the fires died down.

-

Nothing moved.

-

----------------------------

Figued out what to do for 10k subs, a complete revamp of the fic's organization! The way it is isn't bad, but I've since seen better ways to do things. I'll be

1. Adding in new Prev-Next links at the bottom of each chapter to navigate

2. Putting chapter titles in (they already have titles, I just didn't include them for some reason that's lost to me now)

3. Editing the "Dust to Dust" out of each chapter title so they just read "Monster x" from now on. (And in next arcs, ArcName x, etc etc)

It's not an extra release, but I like this better. Sue me :D

(I'll be doing this over the weekend, btw)