There was no more time to talk as the golems attacked. Caspian moved to stand between them and Erica, who had backed up against a wall to keep the enemy from getting behind her. As a Sorceress, one of her few weaknesses was being blindsided. That was why a Sorceress had a Knight, but even a Knight could only protect so many places at once. It would all be over if the enemy flanked Erica.

Spinning on the balls of his feet, Caspian avoided the grasping hands of the first golem to reach them. He then slid behind the earthen figure, spinning around and bringing his blade down in a slash that should have severed the creature from right shoulder to left hip. Instead, his sword bounced off, the steel of his blade squealing as it ground against cement.

"Spirits damn it!" he swore. "My blade can't cut through cement. It's too hard."

"I call upon the Spirit of Storms, Destroyer of the Yamata no Orochi. Susanoo-no-Mikoto, grant my Knight's blade the power to pierce through all substances!" Erica chanted. Caspian's blade flared a bright red. Flames engulfed it, a fire that roared yet did not burn, a conflagration of pure energy rather than actual fire. It flickered and writhed as if it was a living entity, wreathing his sword in pale blue flames. "There! That should allow you to cut through these things with ease."

"Thanks!"

Caspian didn't hesitate to swing his blade again. This time his sword tore through the golem like it was made of paper, splitting the earthen creation in half. The lower and upper halves separated from each other, yet even then, they still continued moving, the torso dragging itself forward with its hands, while the legs just sort of kicked and twitched sporadically before crumbling.

"You have to sever their heads," Erica informed him, "these are elemental constructs that have been given life by elven magic. They don't function like a regular human would, nor do they die like flesh and blood do when cut in half. The head is where the controller is located. Sever it and they'll crumble back into their base components."

"Right!"

Caspian spun around, dodging the next golem that attacked him. It came down with its clawed hand, a slashing motion that he avoided by sidestepping. He then swung his blade in a diagonal slash that severed its head, and a good portion of its shoulder, clean off. Just like Erica said, the moment the head separated from its body, the earth elemental creature crumbled into clods of cement.

"Caspian, get back!" Erica shouted a warning. "By the power of the contract, I make this pact with Hachimon. Smite those before me with a hail storm of spears. Rain down devastation upon thine enemies!"

Caspian jumped away from the elemental constructs just in time to witness more of Erica's Spiritual Evocation at work. Like droplets of rain they descended, dozens of spears raining death upon the cement golems. The spears, unlike his sword before it was blessed with a spirit's power, pierced their hardened bodies as if they were made of cotton. The golems become riddled with spears, which stuck out of them from many different angles. Most of the golems crumbled into dust on the spot, their bodies unable to stay cohesive after having so much damage inflicted upon them. Others didn't receive much damage and continued moving toward Erica.

Caspian wouldn't let them come any closer than that.

Charging into the fray once more, Caspian brought his blade up, bisecting one of the golems from groin to head, causing it to split down the middle. Another golem came in from his left. He shuffled to the right, spun to avoid having his face punched in, then brought his blade down, severing its head from its shoulders.

Instincts warned him of impending danger. Fueled by adrenaline, Caspian twisted his body to the left, avoiding a swipe from a cement hand. That hand was severed when he brought his blade up. Then he turned his sword on the golem as it passed, removing its head as well.

"By the power of our pact, I call upon Susanoo-no-Mikoto, Bringer of Storms! Use thunder and lightning to smite the fools that stand before me!"

Erica raised her left hand, which crackled with repressed energy. Lightning shot from it, slamming into a figure that had been attempting to attack Caspian from behind. The golem was blasted to pieces. It also happened to be the last elemental construct in the area. The alley was now deserted save him, Erica, and the still encased thief, who even now was continuing to shout and pound his hands against the dome.

"Well, that's that," Erica said, clapping her hands of imaginary dust.

"It seems you're still being targeted." Caspian's eyes warily scanned their surroundings, but whoever attacked seemed to have fled. He could find no trace of them.

"That much is obvious." Erica rolled her eyes.

"But that wasn't the same magic as before, was it?" Caspian asked. "The elf who attacked you on that train used Alchemy. This wasn't Alchemy. You said it was Nature Magic."

"No, I said they were given life by Nature Magic," Erica corrected. "Nature Magic does not allow one to control inorganic matter."

"That's right," Caspian mumbled. "Nature Magic can only be used to control living objects, or object that were once living, and fuel the energy in objects that are not alive, but have been created by magic."

It was a fundamental principle. Nature Magic could act in the same capacity as Spirit Crystals. They could be used to fuel the magic of another magic, such as Alchemy, but couldn't create something from non-living material. The only thing Nature Magic could manipulate were things found within nature: plants, animals, people, things like that. Wood could also be manipulated, but it took more effort since wood wasn't exactly alive after it left the tree.

Alchemy, on the other hand, could create something from inorganic materials, seeing how it was nothing more than the act of transmuting one thing into another. Creating golems out of cement was certainly within the capabilities of a skilled alchemist. In this instance the two magics, Nature Magic and Alchemy, worked in conjunction, with the Alchemy creating the golem and the means to control it, and the Nature Magic giving it the energy needed to move.

"I guess that means we're fighting two elves, then," Caspian muttered, already lamenting that fact. One elf was bad enough.

"So it would seem," Erica said, "unless the elf we've been fighting knows how to use both Alchemy and Nature Magic, which I doubt. No, it's more than likely that our elven mercenary has brought a friend along to help him."

"In that case, we should be on our guard."

"Agreed."

While Caspian and Erica discussed their next move, the young man who'd stolen the purse continued pounding on the cement dome that kept him imprisoned.

"Hey! Somebody, get me out of here! Hey! Hey! Please! Help!"

***

Several hours later, Erica sat behind her desk while Caspian stood vigilantly by her side. There was much work to be done. Erica had to file a report on this incident to the Sorceress Council, who needed to be informed that the elven assassin was apparently still targeting her, especially as they didn't know why she was being targeted. Was she being targeted specifically? Or were the assassins merely after her because she was a Sorceress. Without knowing their motive, or the motive of whoever hired them—if they had even been hired in the first place—it was imperative that a warning go out to all Sorceresses, so they could be on guard.

While Erica complained about how her hand was suffering from writer's cramp, Caspian stood near her. Although he appeared attentive, his mind was awhirl with thoughts, not on the assassins, but on the young man who'd tried stealing the purse. The half-elf.

Half-elves were beings born from the union of an elf and a human. Due to the hatred humans and elves had for each other, it was very rare for a half-elf to be born. Most half-elves were the product of an unwilling union.

The Elven War, like all wars, had been filled with atrocities. Towns and cities, both human and elven, had been annihilated. The survivors were often enslaved. The men were beaten and starved as they were forced to labor under their oppressors heel, while the women were forced to serve their oppressors personally. In many cases, those women would be broken--a means of ensuring their continued obedience--in the most sure way people knew how: by breaking their spirit through rape. It didn't matter the side, both elves and humans had been responsible for committing such crimes, though humanity had been far more lenient on their captives than the elves had been.

Because of what they were, the by-product of an unwilling union between two species that despised each other, half-elves were hated by both sides. Humans didn't accept them because they weren't fully human, and elves shunned them because they carried humanity's taint.

"Is something bothering you, Caspie?" Erica suddenly asked.

"Not at all."

"Are you sure? You have been awfully silent."

"I'm sure."

"Very well. If you say so."

Erica went back to her writing, occasionally grumbling and sometimes swearing. It would have amused Caspian to listen to the big bad Sorceress complain about having to write so much, but he really wasn't in the mood. His mind was plagued.

"Are you sure we did the right thing?" Caspian suddenly asked. Erica hesitated for a second before she continued writing.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean with that—with the person who'd stolen the purse. Are you sure we did the right thing?"

After being attacked, Erica had sentenced the half-elf to five years in prison. Even now, Caspian could picture the young half-elf as he struggled and fought against the law enforcement dragging him away, shouting about how his sister needed him.

"Do you feel sympathy for him?" Erica asked, still not looking up from her writing.

"I... no, of course not." Caspian looked out the window. They were so high up that he could see over the clouds. "I despise people who steal from others. Stealing is taking the easy way out; it's the coward's way. People should work for what they get, not take what other people have worked hard to earn."

"Then there you go," Erica said. "That boy broke the law and is now paying the price. End of story."

"I guess..."

Silence soon reigned again. Despite his words and Erica's reassurance, he still couldn't get the half-elf's words out of his mind as the teen was being taken away.

"You're all a bunch of hypocritical, greedy bastards! You want lock me up in prison because I'm stealing from you, but it was you who made me resort to stealing in the first place!"

Was that true? Was society the reason that half-elf had resorted to stealing? And if it was, what did that say about their society? What did that say about him? He'd watched silently as they took the half-elf away, doing nothing to stop them.

Caspian closed his eyes and tried to ignore the guilt threatening to overflow from his mind.

He felt like Terraria's biggest hypocrite.