“I knew you preferred my prongs to the fire dragon’s blade,” she whispered.
I thrust the trident into the golem’s chest, but the prongs glanced off its stony hide. Kumi and Vesma were having an even tougher time. Stabbing weapons slid off the surface to no appreciable effect.
The golem turned, stooped, and swung a fist at Vesma. She jumped back, but then darted in again to stab at the creature’s body while it was leaning over. She hit it in the belly, but this time, it hit her too. There was a crunch, and she went flying before landing in the dirt by the side of the road.
Kumi ran to help Vesma. She pulled out a water skin and poured some of its contents into her hand. The water took the form of a ball, then tendrils that knitted together into a sheet that Kumi laid across Vesma’s injured shoulder and used to channel the healing power of her instinctive Augmenting.
“Throw me the water skin!” I yelled at Kumi.
She tossed the object to me, and I stabbed it with the trident while it was in mid-air. Water poured from the skin, and I thrust my weapon forward while channeling. There wasn’t much liquid inside the water skin, but I used it all to slam a Crashing Wave into the stone giant. The water rolled off its hulking form, but it appeared to have decreased a little in size.
“Hey, that’s no fair!” Mahrai yelled from the battlements. She reached out a hand, and the air between her and the golem shimmered. In a matter of seconds, the golem had returned to its former size. “That’s better,” the woman said as she folded her arms across her chest.
The golem ignored me and descended upon Kumi and Vesma.
“Hey!” I shouted at the golem. “Down here!”
I struck a particularly hard blow, determined to draw its attention away from my vulnerable friends. The golem responded by turning back around and looking down at me with the cave-like hollows that passed for its eyes. It brought a fist down and darted back while Kegohr stepped up and smashed his mace into its wrist. A few chips of stone flew away, but it remained intact.
“This ain’t working,” Kegohr said as he too stepped back. He was a little too slow, and the creature caught him with the tips of its fingers. Even that edge of a blow was enough to send him flying with blood streaming from his nose.
If the golem could so easily lay low someone of Kegohr’s size and strength, the rest of us would be well and truly screwed if it got a good hit in.
Vesma was back on her feet. Beside her, Kumi put away the water skin. They both looked at me expectantly.
“Water weakens it,” I said. “I can use Smothering Mist by gathering the water in the air, but it won’t be enough to really hurt it.” I figured the golem had a tough outer shell, and whatever was underneath would be more vulnerable. “Shoot Untamed Torch at any sections that look weak.”
I pointed my trident toward the golem and brought all my Vigor to the center of my chest. I flooded my water channels with power and directed it through my arms before ending it in the trident’s prongs. Vapor clouds formed around the golem and smothered it. Mud dripped from its limbs and spattered to the ground.
Vesma and Kegohr put away their weapons and raised their hands. Fire formed between their outstretched fingers, and they launched it at the golem. Blasts hit it in the face, the body, the arms, the legs. The water from my mist made its tough outer shell drip away, and the fire from my friends caused what was beneath to become brittle.
As fire rained upon the golem, it lumbered toward me. It kicked, but I rolled clear, came up, and drove my trident into a muddy spot on its upper thigh. The golem roared before it dropped to one knee. I pulled out my trident and plunged the weapon into a soft spot a little higher up. I used the trident to vault myself higher and flipped onto its chest. Before it could snatch me away with its hands, I aimed both palms over its eyes and released a volley of Stinging Palm thorns. Wooden spikes skewered the stone giant’s eyes, and it toppled over.
Kegohr raced over to the monster and pulverized its skull with his hammer. The monster broke apart like brittle chalk until all that was left was a collection of rubble and mud.
The cultist on the battlements didn’t move, nor did Mahrai. She simply pouted, arms folded over her chest.
“They’re letting us go?” Kumi asked.
“I don’t understand it either,” I said. “But I’m not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.”
Kegohr gave me a confused look. “A what?”
“I think he wants horses,” Vesma said.
“Come on.” I gestured for my friends to follow me.
“Perhaps you need more training before your next battle,” Mahrai called out from behind us. “You should try making offerings at the Sunstone Temple and see if the gods will train you in person. I would very much like to show you what my Greater Golem can do.”
I turned to look at the woman. She was still pouting among the silent cultists, but it appeared she had just given us information. But why? Was she genuinely trying to help us? Would we find Lord Ganyir at the Sunstone Temple?
I doubted it was a trap because she and the cultists could have swarmed us outside the gates. From the way she nodded back and the mutual understanding that passed her face, I figured she was giving us a little tip. The Sunstone Temple would provide us with more information, I was almost sure of it.
We trudged
