“Can you beat her?” Ruwen asked.
“Please, give your Sisen some credit.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I’m fairly sure. Her lack of Fortification puts her at a disadvantage,” Sift said, sounding almost sad.
Ruwen glanced at Sift. “Are you fanboying over the assassin that’s trying to kill us?”
Sift shrugged. “I’ve never met a Step fighter from the tournaments before. She studied Scorpion Clan Steps in the southern desert. I love that style.”
“How about you get her autograph another time, and today you just kill her.”
“Fine,” Sift said.
Ruwen felt bad for not warning Sift that Smash would shortly be trying to kill him. If things worked out like Ruwen expected, the Carnage Golem would find the Crag Defender first. Plus, Sift kind of deserved it.
Ruwen strode toward the enemy thirty feet away.
“You are a slow learner,” the Dust Reverend said. “Can’t you see your situation is hopeless.”
“I recognize it,” Ruwen said. “I see it a lot.”
Get ready, Ruwen told Hamma. And Heal him as much as you can to keep him big.
Ruwen decided to use thirty Energy to fire the Carnage Golem, scared that not using enough would cause the figurine to just plop out. He opened his Void Band a couple inches and aimed at the area between the Crag Defender and the Echo Blade. When he’d closed to within fifteen feet of the elite squad, he fired the Carnage Golem out of his Void Band. Now! Ruwen said to Hamma using Chat.
“Smash!” Hamma screamed.
A loud thump filled the air and the shield around the Dust Reverend and Quake Summoner flashed brightly. Ruwen congratulated himself for getting the golem into the enemy lines and glanced over at Sift, who stood ten feet to Ruwen’s right. He almost felt guilty.
Ruwen refocused on the two-inch golem and watched Smash stand and stagger a bit. Maybe Ruwen had shot him a little too hard. The little guy looked dazed. After another heartbeat, the golem slammed his tiny fists together and grew. In moments, the two-inch golem had grown to thirty feet. Ruwen smiled behind his Overseer’s Cowl, proud his plan had worked so well.
Smash turned and looked at Sift, the golem’s mouth turning into a frown. Sift had stopped moving, preparing to run. The Crag Defender, as Ruwen had expected, turned to face the threat in their ranks.
Smash rubbed his head. “Ouch.”
Then the Carnage Golem turned to Ruwen and narrowed its eyes.
“Oh no,” Ruwen whispered.
The Crag Defender struck Smash with his long sword in the leg and Smash pushed the Fighter away without even looking down. Smash’s eyes locked on Ruwen, and the golem used his other arm to reach for him.
“Smash, no!” Hamma yelled, but the golem ignored her.
Ruwen sprinted to the right, away from his group. The Echo Blade had moved to help the Crag Defender back to his feet. Everyone stared at the giant creature, shocked at its sudden appearance. It only took a moment for the Dust Reverend to realize who the golem’s target was, and he laughed as he cast a root on Ruwen.
Thankfully, Ruwen resisted the root, and the three stuns that quickly followed. The Dust Reverend did his best to help Smash catch Ruwen. As Ruwen ran, he took the one second to cast Dig, and then channeled fifty Energy per second to it.
Ruwen, now even with the Dust Reverend and Quake Summoner, used dig to remove the soil under Smash’s right leg. The golem lost his balance and fell, right on top of the shielded Priest and Mage.
The shield flared brightly, and Smash struck at it again in anger. The Dust Reverend and Quake Summoner quickly retreated, and Smash slid to the ground. He pushed himself up and searched for Ruwen.
Ruwen channeled two Energy into Dash, increasing his speed by twenty percent, and tried to circle behind the two enemy cloth wearers. A ten-foot rock wall appeared in front of Ruwen, and he cast Jump for twenty-five Mana, the extra twenty percent making the leap over the wall easy.
Xavier floated on the other side of the fight from Ruwen at eye height with Smash. He sent an arcing bolt of Energy at the back of Smash’s neck.
The golem rubbed his neck and turned, but Xavier had disappeared. Smash looked down at the Dust Reverend and Quake Summoner. “That itchy!”
Smash slammed both fists downward, the shield flaring so brightly Ruwen squinted. Xavier reappeared in the sky, as he stopped whatever cloaking spell he’d used.
The Dust Reverend pointed upward, and a column of stone erupted from the ground, striking Smash in the chin and throwing the golem backward. The Quake Summoner created a ten-foot boar with spikes down its back and a tail with a large jagged ball at the end. The boar rushed Smash, striking him in the knee.
Sift fought the Rift Ghost on the far side, and Xavier and the rest of the group had turned their focus on the Crag Defender. The Echo Blade moved in front of Ruwen and then attacked.
Ruwen had learned most of his Steps from Rami while in the Spirit Realm and had never learned the proper names for the moves. Since then, Sift had taught Ruwen the names of singular Steps as well as the names for those Steps grouped together into forms. While not knowing all the names had helped him discover the hidden form within the Bamboo Viper Clan’s teachings, learning all their names made discussing Step strategy much easier with Sift.
Ruwen used his Bamboo Step training to nullify the aggressive attacks of the Echo Blade. Fighting someone dual wielding weapons had a lot of overlap with battling multiple opponents, and he used a Bamboo Step form called “Gentle Rain at Sunrise” to protect himself.
The Echo Blade had better skills than the swordsman Ruwen had killed earlier. Even with aggressive attacks, the Fighter never overreached or over-committed. Ruwen knew better than to hurry and let the soft Bamboo Steps calm his mind. He
