Why is it in games, the boring parts are always glossed over, but in real life, you don't get to do that?

We walked. A LONG time.

Bud would race ahead and stop and wait for us. I knew he probably could have gotten there in ten minutes if we had kept his pace. As it was, we walked for over an hour. Nothing but a strange path, glowing pillars of stone, and the *clunk* *clunk* of my lower half working tirelessly to not fall over as it stumbled along.

It was so unreal to be watching what should have been a part of me, working on it's own. It just reinforced the knowledge that I was no longer a human. And that whomever had made this body, was some kind of magical / mechanical genius.

Clarissa and I made small talk.

I asked her about her life in the town. She talked about her dad, about the store, and whenever I brought up the "guild" she gave me an enigmatic smile and changed the subject. She asked me about what it was like to be a golem. I did my best to describe how it felt. It wasn't much different than life before. I realized I had been in constant, low-key pain since I had awoken. Interface was suppressing those feelings otherwise I would probably still be writhing on the floor in pain.

*Mana is down to 1%. I will no longer be able to drive your lower extremities if we do not reach the Mana source soon, Aegis.*

"How much longer?" I asked.

*We are reaching the bridge now.* Interface answered.

Oh. Man.

We had reached the end of the Rave Tree Forest as I had been calling it, but not the end of this huge room. It must go on for miles. Stretching off beyond our power to see, the pillars continued to the left and right, but in front of us the world grew dark. Except for those firefly things that buzzed around way up near the ceiling ... The sheer scale of everything just felt so oppressive.

"Gee, we really aren't in Kansas anymore" I whispered.

Clarissa glanced back at me sharply. She had a "what did you say?" look on her face. Arched eyebrows and a slightly tilted head. Cute.

Before us the path continued to what looked like a huge iron gate. Beyond the gate was a bridge that arc'd sharply upward and disappeared into the darkness. That wouldn't have been so bad, but right at the edge of the gate, the floor ... stopped.

In the waning light from the columns we could see that the floor dropped off into nothingness. It was like a moat of darkness.

And the gate was the only way across.

"Where are we?" Clarissa wondered.

"You are under Castle Kendranen." A deep, baritone voice intoned.

We both jumped (Well, my leg did. I kinda jerked backward).

What was THAT?

A shape appeared to the right of the iron gate. Apparently on either side of the gate was a column of that same odd stone, only these did not glow. An opening had appeared, and a huge figure stepped forward.

In the dim light I could make out the shape of what might be a man, if he were ten feet tall, covered in spiky armor, and had glowing yellow eyes within a brassy helm. I took a step back. (My legs, that is.)

Bud barked twice and jumped around the armored figure like it was an old friend. With a great squeaking of metal, the figure reached down slowly and carefully patted the dog. It was huge.

*Aegis, shall I adjust your vision for the dim light? I can enhance your perceptions.*

"Um yeah, go ahead." I whispered.

Clarissa walked closer to me. She put her hand on my shoulder. I could see the bandaged hand shaking in fear.

Suddenly, it was like someone had turned on the lights. I could see the figure in perfect clarity and I gasped. Imagine if you took an old steam train, with pipes, valves, gears and brass fittings and somehow merged that with a classic fairy tale knight in shining armor.

Except, this knight had no face.

And glowing eyes.

And we could hear the sounds of gears grinding, with occasional jets of steam spurting from a joint or a valve here and there. It was literally a steam engine in human form.

Oh, and it had a huge brass sword that looked like it could slice a car in two with one swipe.

This was to say the least, very scary.

For both of us.

"Hello! Sir Knight! My name is Aegis. I was sent here by Bright. Um ... Er... Is she home?"

Gah! What an idiot! Should I ask him out for some tea as well?

"The person you seek is here," it said.

It's voice was so deep I felt I was talking to a mountain or something. A mountain of deadly brass, it seemed. The burnished knight took a step forward, went into a resting stance with his feet wider, and planted his sword in the ground while placing both hands on the pommel. The rock cracked under the force of its blow and the sword sank down several inches into the stony floor.

Clarissa gulped visibly.

"Um, maybe we should go, Aegis. I don't think we are welcome here." she turned to leave.

"On the contrary. You are expected." The brass knight intoned.

Clarissa froze in her tracks - in mid step. I was almost comical had I not been terrified within an inch of my life. For just a frantic moment I thought of some of the games I would play as a kid. Red light! Green light! This was definitely NOT a game.

Just then a light appeared at the top of the bridge. A blue light was coming over the bridge and was running toward us.

"Hiii!! Hiii! I'm so glad you got here! Aegis!!"

The figure, with my adjusted eyesight, was Bright! Only she wasn't glowing. A blue light shone above her head as she raced towards the gate. She reached it in seconds and started waving and jumping up and down like a fan girl at a boy band concert.

"Hii!! Hii!" She cried.

I looked at Clarissa and shrugged sheepishly. She shot me a suspicious look.

"Open the gate Argent! C'mon. Move your rusty butt!" Bright said laughingly.

"I am made of brass. I do not ... rust," it said.

Argent was its name apparently.

She kept jumping up and down like an urgent puppy waiting to get out the door for a walk. I smiled despite myself, and Clarissa frowned. The knight Argent stepped heavily over to the gate and pulled a hidden lever. The gate screamed as metal rang on metal and Clarissa put her hands to her ears involuntarily - she hurt her wrist again and she cried out in pain.

Bright was on us like a bolt of lightning.

She was dressed in the same light sundress. It was shoulderless, with two straps. Her hair was the same short explosion, although it laid cutely about her neck instead of drifting around in the air as before. She looked very human, and ... very cute.

"Ohh Clarissa! You're hurt!" She ran up to Clarissa and cupped her wrist with her hands. Clarissa pulled her hand away in anger.

"Whoa there? Who are you? What are you doing?" Clarissa said, frowning. But she had hurt her wrist again in the motion and said "Ow!!!"

"Clarissa dear. I'm Bright. I'm Aegis' Mana in-ter-face. Didn't he tell you about me?" She looked at me with innocent confusion.

Oh boy.

"Yes, he said you told him that. But how are we supposed to believe you? Maybe you're the one who killed wizard Ken and you're out to get him too!" Clarissa looked down at her dagger.

Bright looked stricken. She took a step back and put a hand to her chest. A tear fell from her eye.

"Do YOU believe that, Aegis? Do YOU think I would do something like that?" Her bottom lip was starting to quiver. My heart was breaking.

"No no no!" I cried.

"Clarissa's just being cautious. I mean someone did try to destroy me - " OOPS. I shouldn't have said that.

"WHAT? How could you - ?" Clarissa's face grew red as she stared at me in anger.

"STOP!" A deep voice intoned.

"Yeeep!" Clarissa cried. I almost laughed, it was so ... cute.

"Bright is the master of this castle. I am her servant. You will listen to her words." And that was that. Clarissa took another step back as Argent turned and pointed to her with his sword.

"Oh, put down your stick, Argent. Don't terrify the girl. " Bright brought her hands together in fists over her chest and her heels bounced up and down in excitement.

"If you'll allow me..." She said, looking at Clarissa expectantly.

Dumbly, Clarissa nodded.

Bright bounced up again and brought her hands to Clarissa's broken wrist. A blue glow began to appear inside her cupped hands, around Clarissa's wrist.

Crack!

Clarissa screamed and jumped back into a low fighting stance. She flicked her wrists and twin daggers appeared.

"Hey, hold on Clarissa, look at your wrist!" I cried.

Bright looked at Clarissa with wide, expectant eyes. She crossed her arms across her chest and pressed her chin to her hands.

"Did I fix it?" She said, her voice was full of quiet hope.

Clarissa looked at her wrapped wrist. She rolled it around while still holding the dagger.

"Huh." She said, and stood upright.

"It doesn't hurt. What did you do?" She made a quick motion and her daggers disappeared.

Bright smiled with a wide open mouth and her eyes danced. She leaned forward and wiggled her fingers in the air like a stage magician.

"Magic!"

"Oh. Well thanks. " Clarissa seemed mollified.

Bright looked at me and then at my legs. Her eyes got even wider and she bounced in place again. She was so full of energy, I couldn't help but grin.

"You found them! And you found me! I've missed you so much!" She bound toward me and gave me a big hug. I looked over her shoulder at Clarissa, who looked hurt. She turned away and looked down.

Bright put her arms on my shoulders and looked me in the eye. She had a huge smile and dancing eyes. And freckles. I was entranced.

"Aegis, we gotta get you patched up. This is what Kenny wanted me to do. I'm getting to fulfill my purpose! I'm so excited! Do you know how dreadfully bored I've been down here? I've been organizing the Archives till my eyes bled. I've been scanning for any sign of you for years. I'm so excited!" She seems almost ... manic.

"I'm glad" I managed.

Bright held her face toward me but slowly turned her eyes to Clarissa slyly. She winked at me. In a burst of energy she danced over to the startled girl and threw her arms around her in an exuberant hug. I was kinda jealous.

"Yeep! What-" Clarissa stood helplessly with her arms outstretched at odd angles with a girl about her same size hugging her tightly.

"Thank you Clarissa. For saving my Aegis. And for bringing him here to me. Can we be... friends? Is that the word? Friends? " Bright let go and Clarissa gasped slightly for air.

I smiled thinking that I had been wrong to think that the huge knight with the giant sword was the challenge. It was instead a super bouncy girl with incredible magic power.

Clarissa looked at me, and back to Bright. Bright bobbed up and down like a happy puppy and her eyebrows waggled.

"Well?"

Clarissa sighed. "Okay. I guess. Does it mean that much to you?"

"Oh yes. I do love friends. But I don't like enemies." Her face grew hard for the briefest of moments. Her eyes had gone from deep blue to slate gray.

Then she smiled and bounced again, clapping her hands with joy.

"This is so great! Let's go see my room!" She turned to go back through the gate.

*Aegis, Mana levels at 0%. I am unable to maintain control of your legs.* Interface said urgently.

At that moment, my legs collapsed and fell to the stone floor with a muffled clang.

"Oh, now. That won't do. Not at all" Bright spun about on one toe like a ballerina and skipped over to me, her dress flaring for a moment. The sight of her legs, not even above the knee, sent a thrill through me. Egad, this was probably not going to end well for me.

Bright kneeled before me gracefully and reached out to my chest.

"Wha?" I said dumbly.

She held the blue orb of my necklace in her hand and kissed it gently. Oh man.

The blue orb flared to light - illuminating the whole area in soft blue light. Clarissa gasped. Bright looked up at me shyly and bit her lip.

*Mana levels at 100% Thank you, Bright.* Interface spoke.

"You're welcome 'bot" Bright said.

"Hey! You - you can hear Interface?" I asked, surprised.

"Of course I can. I AM a part of you as well, silly. " She hopped up and started skipping to the gate. She leaped impossibly high for someone her size and kissed Argent on what would have been his cheek.

She paused at the gate. Argent's hand came up and touched its cheek. It looked bemused.

"Well? Coming? I have SO much to show you." Bright said with barely suppressed excitement.

Clarissa put her hands on her hips and arched an eyebrow at me.

"Yeah Aegis. Ready to go see the pretty girl's room? I'm sure it's full of amazing things." She said sarcastically.

I gulped.