I didn’t respond to any of the others inquiries regarding from there on out. It wasn’t hard, the only people who asked me about it were Rince, Qent and Numen, who asked nothing but. So I easily took notice when Azarint suddenly piped up. “Look. Over there, do you think those are the citizens mentioned by the Alliance?” I followed his gesture, seeing several people in the distance.

“Looks like.” I replied. “Let’s get closer and ask them some questions.” As I approached, they darted away, a hoarse shout coming from them. “Wait! We’re not demons!” They didn’t stop, they simply continued shouting, though I could not make out any words. “Did anyone catch what they were shouting?” I asked, turning back to the others, who shook their heads or shrugged. “Strange…”

“Let’s go after them.” Numen said. “I don’t like this… but maybe if we catch up we can figure out what’s going on.” She was right, this whole situation was just weird. I wasn’t expecting happy voices and the hubbub of a lively town, but the silence around me was setting me on edge. “Actually, do you think this might be some kind of Edratchi trap?” Numen suddenly asked.

My eyes narrowed under my visor, and from the way everyone else paused, I could tell they were thinking about it now as well. “A trap… Everything about this has been suspicious since we heard about it.” Rince said. “The Alliance didn’t say anything about this?”

“I assume they expected us to connect the dots.” Azarint remarked. “They were hardly subtle about what they related to us. We were simply caught up on the golems themselves and how difficult they would be to deal with.” He cupped his chin. “We should proceed carefully then…”

“Or we could just tell the military that the golems are gone, let them deal with the problem.” I answered. “That was what we were contracted to perform wasn’t it? Deal with the golems?” I asked hopefully. The others turned to me and stared for a moment. “I see. Fine, forget I asked.” I sighed.

I clambered onto one of the roofs, Delving and staring out in the direction that the people I’d seen were headed. “Hmmm… I think they’re headed into that tower over there.” I pointed it out to the others. “I can see a lot of magic there… Just clustered all around. That’s probably where the golems were made, if the person responsible is still alive he should be there.”

The others agreed, I slid down the roof, landing besides them as I walked the path, guiding them towards the tower. The town remained eerily silent. No low hubbub of conversation… no shuffling of animals in the streets, no signs of life… If I were a true adventurer I’d probably start combing through people’s houses, looking for signs of neglect or hurried evacuations… and probably take everything that wasn’t nailed down or on fire. I smiled wryly.

“It really is too quiet.” Numen said, a nervous jitter to her voice. She held the bow slightly drawn, and we made slow progress, tense as we were. “Where did everyone go?” I pointed in the direction of the tower.

“As they ran that way, dozens of others ran with them towards it.” I said. “They seem to all be holed up in there… The only question for me is why? I mean, the tower does provide some height, but unless you’ve invented spyglasses I don’t think you’ll be able to see anything other than specks from that distance.” I drew my eyebrows together, shifting my grip on my sword. “And besides, if you were there for the vantage point, then… couldn’t you just stay there instead of roaming out here?”

“Well, maybe they want people on the ground to tell them of the people coming into the town, while the people on the tower can see large scale things like armies, siege equipment and the like?” Rince suggested. I nodded, that kind of made sense really. “What are spyglasses?” He asked, as we fell back into silence again, staving off the silent pressure from the city itself.

“Well…” I said, eyes flicking upwards. “It’s… a device that lets you see farther, it’s a tube that has glass…” I paused. “Transparent stuff fitted onto either side of it in a lens…” I grimaced. “A shape that makes things look larger. It’s got to do with how light goes through it…” I had an uncomfortable flashback to teaching physics to my younger brother. If you can’t explain it… you probably don’t get it.

I sighed. “I’m not doing a very good job here am I?” I scanned the surroundings while Delving. “Right now I don’t see anything around us… but I guess there could well be traps, not like those are going to register as having a soul after all.” I said, frowning. “We should be almost up to it, just past this street.” I pointed. The whole building was lit up with magic, like a giant soul infusion.

“Is that it then?” Numen asked, looking up at the tower that now stood in front of us. It was actually more like several towers put together, about three storeys tall and wide enough to hold an army of golems… “I’m going to guess this is where the golems came from.” She said, stepping closer to the door. I Delved again, something about the door…

She was about to step through it as the magic shifted. The rocks started to ripple. “Get back!” I shouted, too late, too far. She turned, her body still in motion. Dammit! No! I snarled, darting forward. Too slow. Too far, I should’ve noticed. The door crashed down, and a hand pulled on hers, pulling her away as a cloud of dust pushed outward from it. I took a breath, letting out a shaky exhale. “Good save Rince.” I said. That was too close… I thought to myself. “Are you alright?” I asked.

“I’m fine, thought I think my heart nearly leapt out of my chest.” She said. Well… you nearly died, so that’s justified. I thought to myself. I barely detected the jitter in her voice as she said that. Get a hold of yourself, you’re not the one who nearly got crushed. “What was that?” She asked, looking at the now solid wall where the door once was. “Is that… a golem too?”

I Delved, looking into the structure of the door, it was a golem… of that I was sure now. There was a structure to how the magic interplayed. Tubes, cancellation, splitting, I turned to look at the others. Was that how souls are too? I wondered. Doesn’t matter. Focus. “It’s definitely a golem, it looks like it has some way to recognize people, though I’m not sure how. In any case…” I drew the Aen. “I’m coming in!” I shouted up. “Either tell me stop or open the door! I don’t care either way!”

I jammed the Aen into the door, carving an opening even as the aether siphoned away from the golem itself. It jerked, crumbling as the magic that wove it came apart and dissipated into the surroundings. I took a breath, and leant my weight into a single hard kick. The door caved inward, rocks scattering across the floor. “It seems to be coming in really handy.” Numen remarked.

“Huh, I probably should have let you kick it shouldn’t I?” I asked, turning to Numen. She folded her arms, tucking the bow under her arm, and I could vaguely see her pout under the leather cap she wore. “Next one then?” I asked with a grin, and she kicked me in the shin. “In any case, you shouldn’t be in front.” I said. “The rest of us are more suited to drawing attacks and fighting back in close quarters, you need the range…”

“I know, I know.” She groaned, then smiled mischievously. “Though… do you think if you walked into it Rince would be close enough to pull you out?” She whispered. I arched an eyebrow under my mask. Does she realize it then? I wondered to myself. I shrugged, and she gave me something of a smug smile. “So then it was good that I was in front for that right?” I gave her a flat look, slacking my shoulders to convey my abject disappointment in her. “Hey, none of you were honest about it, and you are an idiot.” Why is this about me exactly? I thought, confused.

I sighed, pushing my way through the rubble. There was no illumination within, but I could hear shuffling and moving about, and something… smelled of preserved flesh. Why aren’t there any lights? Don’t people need to see? I thought, engaging Sense instead. Immediately I could feel the presence of several people standing around me, fidgeting occasionally. I froze. “No.” I said under my breath, backing up, I bumped into Azarint.

“What is that smell?” Azarint spat as he entered. “Don’t tell me…”

“Corpse golems.” I said, still moving back, my breathing quickened, and I could feel nausea from both the situation and the chemicals getting to me. Goddamn zombies is what they are. I thought. Azarint let me pass, and I stumbled out the rubble behind. Numen put a hand on my shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, I said nothing, gesturing into the room, then walking off to the side, leaning against the stone walls. “Oh gods.” She said, as the smell hit her from the opening. “What… are those corpses?”

“They’re…” I fought back an urge to vomit. “Up and moving.” I explained. “An animus mage had his way with them.” She paused there, looking back at me. “I can guide us through it.” I said. “They at least don’t seem to be hostile…” I took a breath, calming myself. “I just need a moment.”

The moment came and passed, that no one tried to kill us in the interim at least shattered my thoughts on it being an Edratchi trap… If it were, they’d have jumped us right there and then. I wasn’t even in a shape to think straight.

[Stay calm.] Page cautioned. [Internalize it, we must forge ahead, we will be able to deal with it once the mission is done.] It was right, and I hated that I had to be reminded of that. I’d dealt with corpses, abominations and creatures several times larger than me. Yet somehow this was all it took…

I led them in. “Step where I step.” I said. “Qent, is it possible for you to summon a light?” I asked, turning to look at him. He hesitated, then timidly brought up his hand. “If you don’t want to you don’t have to. I can see just fine, so long as you’re able to follow me.” He nodded, letting his hand drop. The others moved close to me, following carefully behind as we entered the door.

I took a deep breath as I entered, engaging Sense and feeling out the position of the various golems. “Hey! It’s… g… good to see you upandabout!” A voice cried out from beside me. I shuddered.

“It’s nice… weather we… have… today.” Another called out. “Here, have an a-a-a-a-apple. My treat.” A hand thrust out, and I sidestepped it, keeping my footsteps loud so the others could follow. The voices were robotic, hard to make out. Why had he animated them? Did they run out of some self-preservation? This… creeped me out.

“How’s your sister?” Another voice asked. “I’ve… heard she’s… oing well!” I forced down my nausea. Endure… We’re almost at the stairs. I thought to myself, as it entered the edge of my vision. The other voices rang out again and again as the others passed beside them. I heard Numen yelp, and Rince’s words of comfort. I imagine Qent had stuck straight to Frejr.

“Stop. Go away. Who are you?!” A voice cried out from above. “Leave me alone. There is nothing for you here.”