I glanced up at the ceiling and found the huge ice sculpture above us. I dived away from a bone-crushing punch and gestured for my friends to follow me.
“This way!”
We regrouped behind the golem as its eyes shone with an elemental menace.
“Keep backing up,” I said as Kegohr made ready to attack.
“We’ve gotta get to it,” he said.
“And we will. Trust me.”
The creature lumbered after us as its footfalls shook the room. It roared and swung its arms around, a display that might have intimidated lesser heroes than three Outer Disciples of the Radiant Dragon Guild.
I flung up a Plank Pillar in front of the golem as it reached the center of the room. It roared again and took a step back, but I’d put another pillar behind it, and more to either side. I summoned three more wooden walls to increase the thickness of the golem’s prison. The monster bellowed as it attempted to break free by smashing its fists against the planks.
“Untamed Torch, on my mark,” I said to the others and pointed at the ceiling above the golem. “Up there.”
They looked up to see what I’d seen on the way in. We flung blasts of fire at its base and wore away at the ice fixing it to the ceiling.
The golem grabbed hold of a pillar and tore off a plank. It battered at the others with a sound like the beating of a drummer who couldn’t find their rhythm. Splinters clouded the air around the creature.
I poured more Vigor into my Untamed Torch until it burned so bright, it started to flare. Water ran down the icicle as the base melted, but it still clung tenaciously in place.
The golem continued pounding at the planks and started to break down a pillar, but the gap wasn’t wide enough for it to squeeze through. The animated statue dropped its plank to wrench at those still standing. There was a creak, a splintering crack, and a thud as the golem wrenched another Plank Pillar loose and flung it aside.
I poured all my Vigor into Flame Empowerment and enhanced the burning techniques of Kegohr and Vesma while continuing my own Untamed Torch. The flames engulfed the base of the huge sculpture. It shook, swayed, and fell.
A bombardment of icicles slammed into the top of the golem’s head point-first. Ice shattered and water sprayed as our improvised weapon obliterated the hulking guardian in a single strike. The shrine rumbled with the impact, and I glanced up at the ceiling. It didn’t look like it would cave in, and I breathed a sigh.
“Got it!” Kegohr bellowed. “Oh, yeah!”
Vesma nodded. “That was rather difficult.”
“We need to speak with Father and tell him what happened to his trident,” Kumi said. “And that his guards have been compromised.”
“How you gonna get through the doors?” Kegohr asked. “The guards locked them, remember?”
“It’s made of wood. You can all blast it down.”
“Wait. We don’t know what else could be waiting for us out there. I’m running low on Vigor, and the others could use some of your magic. Whoever took the trident is probably long gone by now.”
She stared at me blankly for a moment. She nodded and raised her hands.
She sang a somber tune as what water remained in the bowls drifted into the air and bathed Vesma and Kegohr. I hadn’t been injured in the fight, but my friends had sustained minor bruises. It easily could have gone far worse.
I hated being this low on Vigor, so I spent a few minutes meditating and studying my internal pathways. Soon, my magical stores started to replenish, but they were still lower than I would have liked.
“What’s this?” Kegohr asked as he reached behind a statue’s plinth and picked up a glowing object by a chain. Connected to the chain was what looked a tiny bird cage.
“A monster lure,” I answered, recalling the lures we had used with Master Rutmonlir. “Now, we know why the monsters left the Vigorous Zone. But a lure that could bring them from so far away must be very powerful.”
“And expensive,” Vesma added.
“Who’d spend a bloody fortune on luring monsters to Qihin?” Kegohr asked the question with an answer so obvious, I almost palmed my face.
“Resplendent Tears,” Kumi said with a snarl. “They’re the ones who stole the trident; I’m sure of it. Horix has always envied—” Her eyes suddenly widened. She gasped and shuffled sideways, and I saw a figure standing behind her.
It was impossible to mistake that white hair, those slender features, or the fancy blue robes.
Cadrin.
He held a blue-metal trident glowing with an inner light and pressed its longest prong against Kumi’s back.
I unsheathed the Sundered Heart, the sound almost deafening in the dead silence.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I tried to calm myself and squash my desire to run him through. I wouldn’t reach him before he skewered the princess with the stolen trident.
“Such prowess,” he said in a voice dripping with disdain. “It would be a shame not to test it properly. I see the half-breed has already found one lure. With two, the wyrm won’t be able to resist.”
He unclasped a cage almost identical to the one Kegohr had found and flung it into the center of the room.
“Enjoy yourselves.” He laughed as he backed away, Kumi still held captive at the point of the trident.
Cadrin vanished through the door. I would have bolted after him, but the ground suddenly shook with violent tremors. I staggered and caught hold of a statue, straightened myself, and made ready to pursue Cadrin. He was already out of the hall, pushing Kumi ahead of him down a side passage.
“We gotta catch that bastard!” I shouted as I made for the doorway.
Before I’d taken three steps, the floor beneath me ruptured, and I was thrown to my feet in a shower of brick. I continuing rolling and jumped to my feet.
“Wow, wow, wow!” Kegohr exclaimed.
In
