‘’Golem and Necromancer‘’

Our steps echo through the narrow halls of the magic cave, lit by the tip of Evander’s staff. Only darkness would be present if not for him. We take our steps slowly, making sure not to trip on our faces while descending the flight of stairs. ‘What do you think we’ll encounter, Evander?’ I whisper to him.

‘I don’t know, probably a banquet.’ I stare him down, and he returns a disinterest look back at me.

‘You know it isn’t the time to be sarcastic, right?’

‘It’s because you ask me a stupid question. It might be the caravan, it might be Abyss. Whatever the case, you should be ready for anything. It might even be a scene like the one you described you saw in Rakenia.’ Just thinking about a scene like that send shivers down my spine and gets me shaking to the core. ‘Are you scared?’

‘Mhm, slightly.’

‘Do you want to go back? I’ll take care of it if you want me to.’

‘That’s very kind, but no. I need to do this at some point…’ Evander only nods, as we reach the bottom of the flight of stairs. In front of us stretches a long hallway that swallows all the darkness. We stay quiet, trying not to alert anyone as we walk forward through the darkness. Our steps are the only sound that echo through the long hallway, until we hear a sudden cough in the distance. We look at each other and without thinking, start running towards the source of the sound. We keep running until we enter a clearing.

I gulp loudly for a moment as we see a clearing coated in weird engravings, patronized like they belong in an evil ritual. The engravings for a weird circle in the middle of the clearing, while the walls accompany groups of people sitting sad and depressed, until they look up and see us. They react scared and anxious the moment I try to take a step forward. ‘I-It’s okay…I won’t hurt you guys.’ They respond surprised. I guess they have been here for a while, expecting certain doom or something since every single on of them look terrible, drained from their stamina.

‘The boy is right. We’re getting out of here. Abyss won’t hurt you anymore today.’ They respond better to the voice of Evander, as some people start standing up. I was expecting something to happen, but everything stays surprisingly quiet. Evander guides the people outside, while I stay behind and keep a watch over those still resting. The ‘’operation’’ proceeds smoothly, as we eventually get everyone next to a few outside. Evander is helping those too injured to move, while I stay outside. There are tons of people just sitting and standing around, looking like they haven’t seen the outside world for years. They cry, talk and help each other. I personally feel nervous. Everything went too smoothly. I expected something to pop out. I don’t know what, but at least something to make it a little bit hard. I think about the footprints we saw on the way here. These definitely weren’t human ones.

‘Could it be…’ I hear a big rumbling coming from within the cave. ‘Evander!’ I quickly glance at the people from the caravan. ‘You guys, head back to your caravan! I’m going to check downstairs.’ I feel like I am making a mistake, but I shove that thought to the back of my mind as I rush down the flight of stairs, blindly running forward through the darkness until I enter the clearing once again. In that clearing, a single tall person stood, wearing a black robe and a blue and a red mantel, while holding a creepy locking staff in his right hand, creepily engraved with strange symbols.

A few clicking sounds could be heard from the creature. ‘So, ‘’he’’ has returned.’ The man levitates, and slowly turns around to me.

‘Ah…what in the…’ The man shows his ‘’face’’. A skull covered in bandages that wrap the mantel on his head. Old looking jewelry cover his skeleton body.

‘Brandr?! What are you doing here? Why aren’t you with the other upstairs?’

‘I…uhm… I heard a rumbling here…so I…’

‘You fool, go back up!’ I can feel Evander’s anger towards me. I have no idea what I did wrong, but I force my body to turn around and run back upstairs, until my progress gets halted by skeleton-looking creatures of Abyss, the same ones I saw at the Hero’s Monument. I instinctively jump back, grabbing the Arc and holding it in front of me.

‘Evander, I-‘

‘I’m busy here! Figure it out yourself!’ Evander screams at me as he conjures a magical circle in front of him. He chants something inaudible, before a bright light starts shining out of his staff. I use that opportunity to bypass the blinded monsters and run upstairs. I dash without looking back as I can hear the screeches of Abyss behind me. It is when it starts to get quiet behind me that I notice the ruckus coming from above. My body shivers as I pick up pace, scared of what I will encounter. I hear screams and rumbling, and when I get outside, I only get greeted with the most horrible looking sight.

‘Help m-.‘ Before the woman from the caravan can even finish her plead for a rescue, she gets bitten in half by a humongous creature. It’s an ugly looking monster. A gigantic beast with big tusks coming out of his mouth. Its brownish skin is covered in blood, only having its blue markings pop out, going from his torso all the way to his bright-red eyes. The blood of his victims…the tenfold of people we just saved from the cave…dead. Half-eaten or just beaten to a pulp. Some are still alive, some probably have already started running since there aren’t that many people left from the original group. Some of the caravan notice my presence and run up to me. ‘Please help us! It killed Emma and so many others! It’s killing us. The golem is killing us all!’

I barely hear the person screaming at me. I cannot stop looking at that grotesque monster eating that human being. It’s eating it like some fish, but with bone and all. I didn’t even know that these creatures could digest! ‘Ugh!’ I hold back the urge to vomit. I cannot get used to this. I hold my sword to it, my body still shaking to the core. ‘H-Hey! Damn Abyss! Come and get me!’ The monster stops eating, and in a single motion looks at me and starts screaming like a beast. ‘Lady, please get the other people and get out of here! I’ll drive it away!’ I force myself from her and start running as hard as I can while provoking the beast. It has his attention on me, while I see people start running the other way. ‘Thank God, they’re going to be safe.’ I stand my ground at face the beast. ‘Time for me to be a Hero…’ My confidence sinks in my shoes. I still don’t believe I’m cut of for this, but I that doesn’t matter right now. Innocent lives are at stake… ‘To think…that one day…these words come out of my mouth.’

For just a single moment…my memory flashes in front of my eyes. [‘I hate all of them…’ It said in the darkness]

No more though. ‘Hey Abyss! Aren’t you hungry? Or are you scared?!’ It starts screaming like a beast at me once again and starts charging head-on to me. I’m just realizing the mass this monster carries. Every step it takes is shaking the earth to its very core. I quickly remember the events at Hero’s Monument. A magical blast…like last time. It tries to grab me as it gets close, but I dash as hard as I can underneath it and slice the leg with my sword as I run behind him. ‘That should’ve weakened him.’ I look at the damage I inflicted. There isn’t even so much as a scratch. ‘W-What?!’ It turns around, but I quickly duck underneath it again and start running the other away, trying to gain as much distance as possible. I look behind, seeing where he is, but he isn’t there. ‘Wait, where is he?’ I notice the light diminishing a bit. I look up, and see it falling above me. ‘It jumped?!’ It lands right in front of me, and the impact send me flying back again. I stumble and roll on the ground, trying to shake the pain off as I stand up. It’s still looking for me, so I stand and ready myself. ‘Concentrate…’ I try to guide the magic into my sword. The Arc lights up, indicating its ready. ‘Let’s go…Illuminating Strike!’ I swing my sword forward, and absolutely nothing happens but the beast noticing me through my awkward yell. ‘E-Eh…’ It starts chasing me, and I quickly run as fast as I can. ‘HOW AM I SUPPOSE TO FIGHT THAT?!’ I roar out my fears. It takes another leap and lands right in front of me. It makes me realize I am just an ant to this thing. I feel inferior…in mass, strength and speed. It throws a punch at me, and I try to block it with my sword, only to be send flying backwards again. I drop my sword halfway and lie down, gasping for air I momentarily cannot grasp. ‘Haaaaaaaaaaah…’ The air fills my lungs, and I feel life return to my body. It walks slowly this time to me, probably trying to intimidate me with his aura. To be fair to him, its working. I’m shaking in my shoes. ‘I can’t beat this…I just can’t…’ I say as I sink through my legs. It’s over…

‘You idiot! Stand up and fight!’ A voice can be heard from the distance, followed by gigantic roots growing underneath the monster and hold him down.

‘Evander!’ I see him standing at the entrance of the cave, slightly blooded. ‘Oh God, are you okay?!’ I grab my sword and rush to his side.

‘You idiot, don’t come here!’

The monster suddenly pops next to me before I even notice it. It swings a fist to my right side. This fist is much bigger than me. I quickly put my sword in between, but I still feel a strong impact in my side. ‘GAH!’ Not much sound comes out, as it replaces it with blood. I fly a few meters away, and land in the rock where we all came out. A sharp pain goes through the side that landed against the rock. I fall on my chest. My body hurts all over…I cough of a lot of blood. My body doesn’t listen at all. I think I broke a few bones. Everything is turning dark. ‘Father…Sister…’

See…that’s what you get…This is what you get…for not putting your faith in your strength…in your true self…’

The voice is different from the one in Hero’s Monument. It’s lighter, the voice of someone my age. The signs of someone going mad.

I’ll let it slip by…and help you this time…It’ll only be a matter time…for everything…will fall in its place…

The voice fades away, like it was never there. My consciousness returns slowly. I hear a voice from somewhere else. It’s calling to me. I probably should wake up… ‘Brandr, wake up!’ I get pulled back to reality. I see Evander in front of me now. ‘Ah…thank goodness, you’re alive. We still have to kill that golem!’

‘I can’t…I can’t even slice through him…so what’s the point? I can’t even use my magic again.’ A shadow grows above me again, but I don’t bother looking. Evander pulls me away, and barely dodges it.

‘Listen to me, Brandr. You need to focus your own energy it the sword!’ I don’t really understand him, but a huge fist comes from my side. I react quickly and put my sword in front of it, and successfully block it. I still fly a few meters though, away from Evander, but I can land a lot better now. I roll a few times on my side, and quickly get up.

I’m afraid. I don’t want to stand up, but I see the golem grabbing Evander in his huge I don’t have any time to hesitate. The golem grabs Evander in his huge hand, and start crushing him. I can hear him scream all the way from here, suffering because I cannot safe him. It lit something inside me. I shove my fear to the side. ‘I cannot hesitate…if I get scared all the time, and lose my resolve at every bad thing, I’ll never get home…I’ll never save this anyone…I’ll never safe those precious to me!’ I slice away all my fears and doubts. I throw it in one strike, even though it might not produce anything. I don’t feel any magic or something at all, but I feel something in my heart.

[I’ll let it slip by…and help you this time]

‘Illuminating STRIKE!!!’ I roar out, as I strike my sword down. The magic turns black and white. It’s different from the last time. It flies forward, and cuts cleanly through the arms of the golem that held Evander. The underarm drops down, and Evander gets released. It yells out, and I charge in. ‘ONCE MORE!!!!’ I slice upwards, and another magic attack flies out, right through the middle of the golem. It doesn’t react on my attack. It probably didn’t expect it at all, as it goes through the middle of him. The golem splits in two and falls to their sides, blood gushing and spilling out of the body. ‘Hah…hah…hah…’ The golem dissolves into the air, and out of the dust of the golem comes the skeleton with the creepy staff.

‘Strong…but unpolished…I see now. The cycle has started anew.’ That’s all it says, before it disappears into a magical circle with the wave of his hand. Everything goes quiet…finalizing this fight… I quietly fall down on my knees and pass out.

……………………….

…………………

……….

When I wake up, I lie in a carriage of unknown origin. I look around, and see a few recognizable people. The people of the caravan. ‘Ah, you’re awake?’ A girl around my age was attending my wounds. I quickly crawl a bit back (due embarrassment of course. No woman has ever seen me naked, expect Sylvestra), and a sharp pain hits my right side. ‘Ah, you shouldn’t get up yet.’ She helps me back under a blanket. ‘You need to rest a bit longer…’ She smiles reassuringly at me.

‘What happened to Evander?’ She points to another wagon, where he is already smoking. He only has a few bandages around him. ‘I guess he didn’t have that much damage…’ The girl suddenly looks pale.

‘You were supposed to be dead…’ I quickly turn towards her, which only increases the pain even more. ‘Ah, what did I tell you…?’ She still looks sad.

‘W-What do you mean? I’m supposed to be dead? Do you hate me that much?’ She quickly starts shaking her head.

‘When I was healing your body, I noticed that your lungs were crushed, and most of your ribs were broken. Anyone would die from that…but when I wanted to cover you up, I noticed you were breathing…so I quickly checked your lungs again. They…’ She halts in the middle of the sentence, which only makes me push her more.

‘They…?’ I ask her hesitantly, as she takes a small breath.

‘They were repairing themselves, at a really fast rate as well. It was inhuman.’ Something snaps in me. I can only ask myself one thing after hearing that, which coincidentally, she asks me as well. ‘Sir…what are you…?’

[I’ll let it slip by…and help you this time…It’ll only be a matter time…for everything…will fall in its place…]