“If either of those conditions are changed,” Ziller continued, “the golem ceases to function. It becomes, in effect, a very large, if potentially lethal, sculpture.”
“Does it have any ranged attacks?” I asked. “I’m not looking to get barbecued by this thing with some flame breath.”
“Golems aren’t dragons, Simon,” Monty answered. “I’m certain we—”
“Don’t get close to it if you’re a mage,” Ziller said, glancing at Monty. “It actively seeks out mage life-force. Oh, and one more thing, the mage wearing the Earth’s Breath has heightened control of his chosen elemental discipline—usually earth.”
“How powerful do they become?” I asked, dreading the answer. “Are we talking Super Saiyan God here?”
“I’m not entirely familiar with the term Super Saiyan,”—Ziller glanced the question at Monty, who shook his head with a sigh—“but this Toson should be about a shift or two away from an Archmage,” he continued, returning the cup to a table and opening the door to the closet. “If at all possible, engage from range and use stealth tactics. If you can remove the mage’s eyes—you might stand a chance.”
“Thank you for your assistance,” Monty said. “It’s been quite…illuminating.”
“My pleasure,” Ziller answered. “Thank you for the tea.”
He stepped into the closet, closing the door behind him. The edges blazed with light again, followed by less shuddering. When I opened the door, it was our closet again.
“Did he really just say ‘remove his eyes’ and we can stand a chance?” I asked, closing the closet door. “The Professor is a little dark these days. Don’t you think?”
“He’s always been that way,” Monty answered. “Super Saiyan God? Really?”
“Just trying to wrap my non-mage melted brain around this situation.”
“By using obscure manga references?”
“Goku is not obscure,” I said, defensively. “If he were here, he would fight the golem, get his ass kicked, go into training, come back stronger, and then kick the golem’s ass. This would be followed by more training so he could face the ‘one shift away from an Archmage’ Toson.”
“Maybe this Goku can join Bangers and Mash, and together they can stop this threat from destroying our city?” Monty asked. “Perhaps together they can form a new Ginsu Force?”
“You do know Goku is a fictional character, right? And it’s Ginyu, not Ginsu. This isn’t a group of kitchen knives, it’s a—”
I stopped at his expression.
“Please, do go on,” Monty said, after sipping more tea. “You were expounding on the complexities of fictional manga characters and their relationship to… cutlery?”
“Maybe I do need to get out more.”
“You are incorrigible,” Monty said, nodding. “At least the Professor shed some light on the attacks on the city. Toson is fueling his army.”
“What’s the plan?” I asked, opening and closing the closet door a few more times just to make sure Ziller was really gone. “Toson is a hard target.”
“We need to stop a golem army from forming.”
NINETEEN
“Can we really take on a golem?” I asked. “I mean, I know you’re strong, but are you golem-stomping strong?”
“Toson’s too strong, and I suspect the Earth’s Breath is feeding off of him even as it supplies him with power,” Monty said. “The only course of action is to stop the golem and send the artifact into dormancy. Then, we can confront Toson. Did you get the list of destroyed properties?”
I checked my computer and pulled up the email Angel sent. It was a list with a corresponding map of the locations targeted by the golem. I handed the printed version to Monty, who began examining the document.
“How about we help accelerate Jen’s shift,” I started. “Then, she can go out and crush Toson all on her own? Case closed.”
“There are no shortcuts to a shift…wait a minute,” Monty said, looking up from the paper he held. “You may have given us another option.”
“I know,” I said. “Jen, shift, and crush. We avoid angry, dangerous stone man and psycho mage. Then, we go somewhere warm for vacay? I’m sure Roxanne would love to get away.”
“There will be no ‘vacay’,” Monty said, waving my words away. “As for speeding up the Elder’s shift, that’s preposterous. We can’t accelerate a shift.”
“How about nudging it just a bit?”
“Even attempting to do so can have catastrophic results. Imagine Cecelia’s powers out of control, only to the power of ten.”
“Okay, I’m going to go with no on the shift acceleration for two hundred, Alex.”
“However…The runes on the Earth’s Breath, I recognized them. There may be a way to short circuit the artifact into dormancy, but it will be risky.”
“Oh, that’s a surprise,” I said, completely not surprised. “That sounds great, if I understood what it was you were talking about. What do we need to do?”
“We need to go see a certain Jotnar ice mage child with a penchant for runic shortcuts.”
“Hopefully we can do this without the deep freeze?” I asked. “I’ve really had enough ice to last me several lifetimes.”
“After that,” he said, looking down at the paper again, before putting it in an inner pocket, “we need to go visit Ursula. If anyone knows why these specific hubs are being attacked, she would.”
“Maybe she’s run into the golem?” I asked. “Her hammer looks made for golem crushing.”
“I sincerely hope she hasn’t,” Monty said, seriously. “She’s a null and may be safe from the siphoning and the Earth’s Breath, but she’s not immune from a stone fist crushing her to death.”
“It’s great to see your cheery optimistic side come out in these situations.”
Monty grabbed his cup and headed for the door.
“I’m a mage,” Monty said, opening the door. “We don’t have a cheery optimistic side. Let’s go.”
I was about to leave Peaches, the Sprawl Master, on the sofa when he appeared next to me.
<I didn’t want to wake you. You looked pretty comfortable.>
<Are you going to see the cold girl?>
<Yes, Monty has some questions for her. Did you want to join us?>
<Will her guardian be there?>
<Yes, especially after what happened earlier. I’m sure Rags will be staying extra
