Skybuilders (Sorcery and Science Book 4) (14 page)

Ariella was not fooled. Nothing was that easy. She knew that as soon as they tried to cross that field, the golems would come to life and try to stop them. And she wasn’t sure how they were supposed to evade seven metal giants. Every story she'd heard about golems said they were as quick as they were strong.

Ariella looked at the sword in the nearest golem’s hand. It was twice as long as she was tall. Ok, so they seemed to be rather strong. Not good. Not good at all.

“They’re not magic,” stated Silas.

Leonidas stopped fiddling with his bomb to look at him. “What?”

“Golems. You said they were made by magic. They are not.”

“Ok…” Leonidas’s eyes drifted up and his lips muttered a string of incomprehensible words, as though he were thinking something through. “So, how were they made then?”

“By Xenen scientists. They were designed to hunt Elitions.”

Ariella turned to him in surprise. That she had never heard. The tale taught in Elition schools was that long ago a group of powerful Phantoms had breathed magic into colossal human-made statues, causing them to spring to life. Like all old myths, beyond that grandiose statement the actual details were kind of fuzzy.

Silas seemed to read the story in her eyes. Or maybe in her mind. She had to remind him again to stop doing that. Later, when they weren’t surrounded by the silver brotherhood of annihilation.

“Most of the old tales are as unreliable as Leonidas after drinking one of those pink umbrella pineapple cocktails he’s so fond of.”

“Hey!”

Silas ignored the protest. “The golems were not made with magic, but they were stolen with it. The Xenens sent their army of golems to many Elition towns. By the time they got around to demolishing the temple of Aborea, King Tome decided he’d had quite enough of that. He asked for an audience with the rulers of the other kingdoms
—
remember, that was in the days before the first High Queen of Elitia and before the Wilderness. They decided to send the Elite Triad to deal with the golems. Which they did. They sank their will and magic into the golems, stealing control of them. And then they sent them after their Xenen masters. That is how magic entered the tale of the golems.”

Ariella mulled that over but asked the more interesting question. “The Elite Triad? I hope you’re not implying that such a thing as an Elite Triad exists.”

“No, not in the way you’re thinking. In earlier days, the grouping of the Elite Prior, Phantom, and Prophet, when they were joined by Unity, was sometimes referred to as the Elite Triad,” he said. “The Triad ability
—
the combination of the powers of the Prior, Phantom, and Prophet in one person
—
is something else entirely. Thankfully, there has never been an Elite Triad in that sense. The sheer power and devastation such a person could wield would be…” He shook his head. “Terrible. Unthinkable.”

Silence fell upon them as Ariella sorted through this new information.

“I didn’t understand a word of what Silas just said,” Leonidas finally spoke. “Well, maybe ‘terrible’ and ‘unthinkable’. That doesn’t sound like nice business. ‘Unity’ sounded ok, though. What’s that all about?”

An excuse Elition adolescent males make to experiment with buzz-inducing serums and use to talk girls into their beds.

“A myth,” Ariella summarized.

“Is it?” countered Silas.

He said it so seriously that Ariella, sure as she’d been the moment before, couldn’t help but doubt her words.

“You’re thinking of Synergy, Ariella,” he told her.

“Oh, right.” She'd always gotten those two terms mixed up. Maybe because everyone
—
the teachers of Eclipse included
—
said they were nothing but tall tales.

“Synergy also exists,” he added.

“Really?”

“Of course. Would I just make this stuff up?”

She favored him with a single arched brow. “Perhaps.”

“I’m not,” he assured her. “Both Synergy and Unity do exist.”

“So what are they then?” Leonidas asked.

Silas paused, as though uncertain of whether he should share Elition secrets with a Selpe spy who'd already betrayed them once. The need to educate won out. He probably figured he could just kill Leonidas later if he tried to sell the knowledge.

Ariella shook herself. She was beginning to think too much like Silas. When this was all over, she would go with Isis to the Coral Falls lava springs for some time off from monsters, mechanical menaces…and men.

“Synergy is a shared bond between two Elitions, usually lovers but sometimes siblings or close friends. Through it, they experience each others’ feelings
—
and in some cases thoughts,” Silas explained. “The specifics of how Synergy is achieved are a secret all but lost with the passing centuries. Some speculate special serums are necessary.”

“And Unity?” Leonidas prompted as Silas stared off with unfocused eyes.

“That is far rarer,” he said, his gaze returning to them. “Unity is a type of Synergy unique to the Elite Triad. It is the bond between the Elite Prior, Phantom, and Prophet. A bond that allows them to share even more. It allows them to share abilities.”

“Like a Mimic?” Ariella asked.

“No, a Mimic can display another Elition’s abilities to a limited extent. They can do this in one of two ways. First, they can merely imitate a nearby Elition’s powers. The effort expends quite a lot of energy very quickly from the Mimic, and as soon as the other Elition gets too far away, the show is over. The second method has more lasting effects and allows the Mimic to display the abilities nearly as well as the original bearer. In this case, the Mimic siphons the ability
—
and the energy needed
—
directly out of the other Elition.”

Leonidas’s rosy cheeks paled. “Like a blood-sucking spider?”

“The experience is not known to be a pleasant one,” Silas agreed. “But back to Unity. Unity is unlike a Mimic’s attack in that no power is drained from another person. The Elite Prior, Phantom, and Prophet
exchange
energy and abilities, and in that exchange new energy and abilities are created. The Prior acquires the ability to see not only backward but also forward. The Prophet gains greater physical strength and speed. I've even heard of the exchange causing the Elite Phantom’s own abilities to be boosted beyond what any Enhancing Serum can do.”

Ariella could feel the skepticism creeping across her face, but rather than argue, she only asked, “Those beasts supposed to exist only in myth, long-gone machines, old Elition magic lost to us… You've seen them all?”

He nodded.

She dared to ask the question she'd been pondering since the day they met. “How old are you?”

“Old.”

“Ok.” She pushed down her curiosity and turned her eyes on the golems, squeezing the handle of her sword several times. They'd been trying to postpone the inevitable for long enough. “I don’t think they’ll simply withdraw from the field.”

“Unlikely,” agreed Silas. He looked at Leonidas. “Knees, elbows, hips.”

“What?”

“You asked for the golems’ vulnerable spots. Aim for the knees, elbows, and hips
—
anything that’s a joint. If you can toss a bomb in through its mouth, that would be even better.”

Leonidas cupped his hand over his eyes and stared up at the motionless golem. “Do those things even have mouths?”

“Sure. With pointy metal teeth too. But you only see them when they’re ready to shred you to bits.”

“Well, that’s a happy thought.”

“Don’t let them grab a hold of you.”

Leonidas scowled at the golem. “Thanks for the suggestion. I wasn’t planning on it.”

Ariella took a few practice swings with her sword, warming up her arms. “Anything else we should know before we get started?”

A thoughtful expression washed over Silas’s face. “So much. But nothing that will help us now.” His eyes iced over. “We’ll start with this one here. After that, we’ll tackle them one by one.” He pointed to the four walls of evergreens that formed a border around the massive ice field. “There. That’s the start of the playing field, the path to the portal. The golem in front of us guards the entrance to the field itself.”

“Why?” Ariella asked.

“Perhaps they figured there’s no point in activating all seven golems if you can’t handle just one. They do consume massive amounts of power when awake, after all.”

“You have power seeping out of your fingertips,” Leonidas said. It sounded like an accusation.

“If only it were so,” lamented Silas. “So, after we take out the first golem, we'll move on to the first one in the left column. If I’m right, they won’t attack us unless attacked first or we step foot onto the field.”

“
If
you’re right?” Leonidas choked out.

Silas shrugged. “Such is typical golem behavior. Defend against threats and otherwise ignore. They don’t want us to cross the field, so they'll defend it. They’ll also defend themselves if attacked. What?” he demanded of Leonidas, who was shaking his head slowly in disbelief. “I can only tell you what I know of golems in general. I don’t know if any modifications have been made to these particular golems.”

“We'll deal,” Ariella said as Leonidas muttered something about ‘suicide’ beside her.

“We will need to lure the targets off the field one by one,” he told them. “It’s easier to take them on one at a time than all at once.”

“How do you suggest we lure them to us?” Ariella asked.

“Throw things at them.”

“Snappy insults?” suggested Leonidas.

“More like rocks or
—
” He eyed the white ground. “
—
snowballs.”

“Cool. I've always wanted to throw snowballs at a golem.”

Leonidas grinned like a little boy, but there was no humor in his eyes. How could there be when they were about to antagonize a force of metal giants?

Silas looked from Ariella to Leonidas. “Ready?”

They nodded solemnly.

“Ariella, aim for the knees with your sword,” Silas instructed her. “We need to bring this thing down, so I can climb up on top of it.”

Ariella simply nodded. She did not mention how insane he was for wanting to climb onto something that could crush his bones into pulp with a single squeeze. They didn’t have a choice. They needed to get past the golems. And it’s not like she had a better idea.

“Stand by ready to throw one of your bombs,” he told Leonidas.

Silas motioned for them to step back a few steps. He scooped up a snowball sprinkled with gravel and dead grass, rolling it over and packing it down between his lightly gloved hands. Despite the cold, Ariella’s hands were slippery with sweat. She wiped them one by one on her pants, then readjusted her hold on Starsoul. This was no time to lose a grip.

The ball whizzed past Ariella’s ear with a low whistle. Snow splattered against the golem’s chest, sticking to its smooth metal skin. They all stared up, waiting for something to happen.

They weren't kept waiting long.

Blue lights flickered on behind the golem’s eyes, shining out like stars. The deafening screech of stiff metal joints tore through the snowy plains, heralding the awakening of the giant.

“Now!” Silas shouted at her over the wind, which had chosen that moment to howl to life again. “As it takes its first step, slash it hard in the knee. It’s still waking up and will be too slow to evade.”

As the golem began to sink its weight into its knees, Ariella sprinted forward, racing it to its first step. She swung her sword back, preparing to aim for the flexible mesh of the golem’s exposed knee
—
and failed to find it. The damn thing was wearing knee armor.

“Silas!” she called out.

“Just do it!” he shouted back.

She cut forward with her sword and was surprised when the blade sank right through the golem’s armor. The Serenity was Elitia’s sharpest sword, but it was not designed to cut through armor. Starsoul really
was
enchanted.

All around the slash, metal bubbled and melted away. Ariella pressed harder, trying to sink it in even deeper. The air was heavy with the stench of burning metal.

The golem stumbled in its step. Ariella saw its arms, as thick around as old sequoias, barreling down to brace the fall. She jumped aside just as metal hands slapped down flat against the ground. Impact tremors rocked beneath her boots, following her as she retreated far enough back to allow Silas a clear path.

It took him only three powerful strides to reach the golem. He hopped from hand to elbow, then dashed up the arm and over its shoulder to stand behind the head. Squatting into his knees, he locked his hands under its jaw
—
or what would have been the jaw on a living creature
—
and pulled up. The muscles along his arms and legs, their every line clearly visible under the skintight fabric of his bodysuit, tightened and bulged from the strain, but the head remained firmly attached.

“Hit it again!” he called down as the golem began to rise.

It had made it nearly to its feet when Ariella slashed through the other knee. It collapsed onto its hands again, hopefully buying Silas a few more seconds. His face glowed bright crimson, and he was pulling up with his arms and legs now, his body tilted slightly back. Ariella hoped that if he actually did manage to pull the head off, he didn’t tumble over backwards.

“Leonidas, get ready!” he shouted, rising slowly. Sparks shot up all around him.

With one final, strained heave, Silas tore the head off the golem. It lifted its arms up, trying to pat the hole where its head had once sat. Since it was on its knees, its weight partially supported by its hands, its entire chest smashed hard against the ground. Ariella slipped out before it could crush her, hopeful that while the golem was strong and resilient, it didn’t seem particularly smart. Impossible as it had seemed at first, maybe they could defeat all seven.

The golem was flapping about like a grounded fish. Silas pointed at the hole he'd torn, then jumped off as Leonidas tossed one of his bombs through the opening. The disc clanked and clunked, then exploded.