029 - Journey to the East

The golem raised his hand up, its blow left a crater in the earth. Ovidius commanded; "again." The giant golem smashed down once more, the entire courtyard shaking with the force of its strike. "Ah, once more. Good."

Ovidius straightened his robe and sleeves, walking casually over to the golem. Magnus lay still, half buried in the dirt - the Alchemist watched him wearily. Dead. Surely, blood and broken limbs . . no pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's one thing after another on this blasted planet. Humph!" Ovidius spat on Magnus, turning his attention back to the boy and his unconscious father, still pinned to the courtyard wall by means of blue threads. "Where was I? Hmm, skinning alive, right, right." Ovidius face became a hideous sneer.

Lars had watched the fight between Magnus and the Alchemist in wide eyed silence, the little hope he'd had of escaping evaporated under Ovidius gaze. He struggled helpless, the blue lights were solid as iron spikes through his shoulders.

"What's this? An apple?" Ovidius scooped up a fruit. "Don't mind if I do, heh." He took a bite. The fires in the ruins of the houses illuminated the courtyard, the flickering shadows of the golem and the corpses made Lars shiver, the Alchemists long shadow fell across the boy.

"Al-che-miiist!" Magnus roared.

The golem smashed down without hesitation, Magnus caught the giant stone arm, his fingers leaving welts in the golems stone body. "Hiiiaahhhh!!" He planted his right foot on the ground, pushing into the golem's chest.

"What! Impossible!" Ovidius shrieked.

Magnus punched the golem, the flesh of his fist bursting to reveal a black under-skin. He felt nothing, no pain, his nerves and flesh burnt, torn, cut, mangled in a multitude of ways. He punched again, the golem swung its free hand, breaking it against Magnus' body. Magnus flew back, crashing into the courtyard wall.

"What monster is this?" Ovidius felt a horror rise in him. Magnus had come out of the night, out of gods know where, in this dead city and seemed entirely transfixed on attacking him. Have I offended some mad devil? Ovidius commanded his golem to attack, scrambling over the fallen wall and into the alley beyond. Escape! It's not worth risking my life to fight against some undying freak!

"ALCHEMIST!" Magnus bellowed, finally breaking the giant golems arm into dust and charging past it, the golem caught Magnus by the ankle, tripping him up. The Alchemist ran, his feet flapping against cobbles, vanishing into the dark city streets. Magnus kicked, the golem's hand broke, its blue eyes flaring. It smashed the stump into Magnus.

He's getting away!

The Alchemists giant golem swung at him, Magnus rolled to a side, kicking the golems leg and breaking it at the knee. The golem collapsed. Magnus breath was ragged, it took all his focus to heave himself up on a stone block. The rage which fueled his mad attacks on the Alchemist gave way to an immense frustration.

No matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, the Alchemists seemed forever a step ahead. Their magics and strange skills, their potions and weird lights . . he hadn't even been able to touch a hair on the Alchemist's head! And now he's gone. The stone golem rolled around in the courtyard, dragging itself towards Magnus, its eyes flashing and dimming, bits of its body crumbling and falling off.

Even if I chase, even if I can catch up . . what could I do? Die? Let those red threads attack him. Brilliant. Lets run right up and smash my own head in, that's sure to work.

Magnus looked around. The fire spluttered, flames finally running out of any of the Alchemists materials to burn through. Lars and his Pa, pinned to the wall. The Alchemists blue threads faded, finally fizzling out, Lars falling to the floor.

"Mon . . monster!" Lars crawled back, his voice trembling.

Magnus laughed, his throat dry, lips cracked and caked with blood and pus. His eyes fell upon the apples by the boy. "Apples? Ha!" Magnus grin, a sudden thought brewing in his mind. "Apples! Ha! You really like apples, eh, Lars?"

"Ma . . Magnus?"

"Hahaha!"

Where would the Alchemist run to? Back along the black stones, back out of the city! Magnus felt a fire rise in his belly, the dead city returned to a measure of dead silence.

Ovidius ran blindly, turning this way and that down the many pitch black city streets, cursing and bemoaning his situation. "Go to the swamp Ovidius, brilliant idea Ovidius. Could be in the tower right now, in a warm cotton bed. Blast. Freaks and damned children, how can an Alchemist work in these conditions?"

Ovidius stopped, took a deep breath and calmed himself. "No need to panic. Go to get out of this swamp. Which way? Ah, it doesn't matter, doesn't matter." The Alchemist shot out a blue spark from his fingers lighting up his surroundings. With a flurry of swift hand movements he weaved the thread into a complex sigil and flicked it to the ground.

It formed a small platform which he hastily got on. It floated inches above the ground, pointing in a direction, it slid through the air, wobbling, Ovidius dropping to his knees and laughing nervously. He directed it out over the swamp waters, out away from the ruins of the city and into the swamp.

From the dark of the city streets, unseen by the Alchemist, an object sailed through the air and splashed into the swamp waters beside him.

"Alchemist!" Magnus yelled. The whole city was dark, except for two spots of light. The fire in the ruins, and ahead, the blue electric glow illuminating the Alchemist above the swamp waters. Magnus grinned, throwing another apple some ten meters in front of the Alchemist.

Ovidius drew a sharp breath of air, he urged the unsteady platform on, eager to get away into the night, his pale hands clutching the edges of the fizzing blue floating sigil.

In the space of a few breaths the first sapling shot through the surface of the water, Ovidius cried out in panic, steering the platform to a side, a second tree sprouting right beneath him, its pointed top piercing through the platform and entangling it with many fast growing branches.