Chapter 9

I sat in the dim light of my temporary shelter, the soft crackle of the fire the only sound cutting through the silence. My hands ached from the effort, the stick I had been using to spark the fire now discarded beside me. After what felt like hours, the flames finally took hold, flickering hungrily over the dry branches and tinder.

I stared at the small fire, its warmth brushing against my skin as I held a fish skewered on a stick over the flames, turning it every now and then as the skin sizzled and blistered.

The smell of cooking fish should have brought some comfort, but it barely registered. My mind drifted, the heat of the flames doing little to thaw the cold pit in my stomach. What was I doing here? In any of this? The more I thought about it, the less I seemed to know.

I don’t even have a name—at least, not one I could remember. Its like the world started the moment I woke up in that dark place. Everything before that? Nothing. A void. And now, here I am, a stranger to myself, alone in the wilderness, fighting to survive.

My thoughts circled back to the fragments of dreams that frequented me. Broken memories, perhaps? A wooden lodge. An arrow. Blood. Faces blurred at the edges of my mind, voices that spoke in riddles.

Are they real? Or is my mind playing tricks on me, offering pieces of something I can’t grasp? I try to focus, to pull those fragments together, but it’s like trying to hold water in my hands. The harder I try, the faster they slip away.

Then there was the pain. Sharp and sudden, a jagged spike driving through the base of my skull. What was that? The pain is too real, too raw, to be just a product of my confusion. Just what happened to me?

And why can’t I remember?

I forced myself to breathe, slow and steady, pushing the questions aside. I couldn’t afford to let my mind spiral—not here, not now. The flickering flames came back into focus, and with them, the acrid smell of burning fish.

Shit!

I muttered under my breath, pulling the skewer from the fire. The skin was charred in places, the meat not as tender as I would’ve liked, but I didn’t have the luxury to care. I was starving.

I tore into it, eating quickly, the charred edges crumbling between my teeth. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to settle the gnawing hunger in my stomach. After a few bites, I reached for the gourd I’d pilfered from those monsters, tilting it to my lips. The water was cool, easing the dryness in my throat as I drank deeply.

For a moment, the firelight and the sound of crackling wood pulled me back to the present, grounding me in the simple act of survival. But the questions lingered, lurking at the edges of my mind like shadows just beyond the fire’s reach.

Who am I?

Just as I finished eating, a soft patter of dust and debris fell from overhead, scattering across the ground. I froze, noticing the strangeness of it—the sudden shift in the air. Before long, I heard it—a distant rumble, faint but unmistakable, like the tremors of an earthquake.

The vibrations traveled through the earth, shaking the floor beneath me. I stilled, every sense attuned to the growing noise. What is that? The question nagged at me as I tightened my grip on the makeshift spear.

Rumble.

The ground quaked more violently now, causing the boulders around me to groan and shift under the increasing pressure. I could feel it—the weight of something massive drawing closer. My breath caught in my throat as a hairline crack splintered across the stone, crawling up the surface of the boulder.

Without thinking, I moved, grabbing everything useful before diving out of the shelter just as more dust rained down from above. I scrambled, heart pounding as I threw myself into a nearby bush, crouching low beneath the cover of leaves.

The rumbling grew louder, reverberating through the forest like a low growl of thunder. My eyes fixed on the treeline ahead. The trees swayed and groaned under the force of whatever was approaching, their branches snapping like fragile twigs. Each impact against the ground sent a jolt through my body.

Whatever this thing was, it was massive. Instinct told me to retreat, to run as far as I could, but curiosity—stupid, reckless curiosity—kept me in place.

I stayed hidden, barely breathing, my heart hammering in my chest.

And then, through the swaying trees, it appeared.

A giant. No—not a giant—a moving mountain.

The first thing I saw was its foot, easily the size of the largest boulders around, crushing a towering tree in its path like it was nothing more than a sapling. The cracking of wood and the sound of the earth groaning beneath its weight sent shivers down my spine. As the massive creature emerged from the treeline, I felt the sheer power of its presence.

A golem.

It was made entirely of stone, jagged and uneven, with thick, slab-like arms and legs that looked as if they had been carved straight from the earth. Its skin, if you could call it that, was rough and mottled with patches of moss and dirt.

Each step it took made the ground tremble, its sheer weight causing the earth to buckle beneath its feet. And towering over the trees, its head was a blocky, misshapen rock with two massive, glowing eyes that burned a bright, unnatural light.

I couldn’t tear my gaze away.

It moved slowly, its limbs grinding together with every step, sending deep, rumbling vibrations through the air. But it was what lay in its chest that caught my attention—three small, red, glowing spheres embedded in its upper chest cavity.

My heart skipped a beat. I recognized them instantly. The same red orb the hooded man had shown.

Search and destroy.

I mumbled, staring at that red spheres. Could this massive creature be what I was meant to destroy? The mere thought of it made my stomach twist. How could anyone destroy something this colossal?

It's simply impossible...

The golem took another step, and the ground shook again, sending another wave of tremors through the earth. I ducked lower into the bush, gripping the spear tighter, unsure of what to do next.

However, something else caught my attention—a rustle, faint, yet distinct, from the foliage just beyond the creature. My muscles tensed, every instinct screaming to remain vigilant. From the bushes, another figure emerged.

A boy.

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I recognized him immediately. He was one of the six children from before, from the cell block.

The boy moved with a cautious, almost deliberate grace, his eyes locked on the glowing red sphere embedded in the golem’s chest. His movements were purposeful, as if he knew exactly what he was doing—or at least, what he wanted to do.

Is he trying to reach the sphere? I couldn’t be sure, but it seemed likely. Whatever his plan was, it seemed reckless.

The golem, however, paid him no mind. It continued its slow, lumbering steps, oblivious to the boy tailing it. Each step shook the ground, but the boy was agile, darting from cover to cover, his eyes fixed on the red orb.

For a moment, I considered calling out to him. Maybe he knew something I didn’t—maybe he had some kind of plan, a way to destroy the thing. But then, I hesitated. It felt wrong to interrupt. Better to watch, to observe from a distance. There was too much I didn’t understand, and rushing in without knowing what I was up against was foolish.

I waited.

The boy followed the golem, slipping between trees and bushes, his focus entirely on the sphere. The golem’s slow, deliberate movements made it easy for him to keep pace without being noticed.

As they moved further, I began to stalk behind them, my hands brushing against the stone axes tied to my belt—the ones I had pilfered from the lizard-like creatures I killed earlier. My grip tightened around the handles, but before I could move any further, another rustle came from the bushes.

I froze immediately, heart pounding.

Another figure emerged. A girl this time. Younger than the boy, but her expression was the same—determined, intense. It seemed like she was stalking them, her eyes darting between the golem and the boy as if she were sizing up the situation, weighing her options.

What the hell is this? I wondered. Another one?

I stayed completely still, crouched in the bush as she passed by, her steps as light as the boy’s. She followed at a distance, careful not to get too close, but clearly aiming to track the boy and the golem. My mind raced with possibilities.

Is she thinking what I’m thinking?

I held my position, waiting, my breath shallow as I watched the strange scene unfold. I wanted to see if anyone else was out there, hiding, watching. But after a few tense moments, it became clear that there was no one else. No other movement from the bushes, no more hidden figures emerging from the undergrowth.

It was just the boy, the girl, and the golem.

Once I was sure it was clear, I began to follow again. My footsteps were light, deliberate, matching the rhythm of the golem’s heavy strides. I kept my distance, making sure not to lose sight of the strange entourage ahead of me. My every step was calculated, every sound scrutinized.

As I crept behind them, my eyes roamed in front where the boy struggled. His small figure, was dwarfed by the hulking golem, moving with a strange mixture of desperation and determination.

Every few minutes, I watched him attempt the impossible—grappling onto the golem’s rough, rocky exterior, trying to climb it. But each time, it was the same result. The sheer mass of the creature, the thunderous force of its steps, sent him crashing to the ground with brutal falls.

I found it strange.

The way the boy—bruised, bleeding, and clearly in pain—kept getting back up. His arms trembled with exhaustion, his legs wobbled, but he never stopped. Each time he was thrown to the earth, he rose again, eyes locked on the glowing red spheres embedded in the golem’s chest.

It was like he didn’t care about the pain, as if something far greater than his injuries was driving him forward. The bruises, the bleeding—they didn’t matter to him.

I almost wondered if he was stupid.

Yet, despite his relentless efforts, the boy was failing. And part of me wondered how long he could keep this up.

Then there was the girl.

Unlike the him, she moved with caution, trailing behind at a measured distance. Her eyes constantly scanned the surroundings, but more than once, they darted back, scanning the area behind her.

Cautious, I thought. Too cautious, in fact.

Stalking them both wasn’t easy with her sharp instincts on constant alert. There were moments when I had to freeze mid-step, half-hidden in the undergrowth, barely breathing as her gaze swept over the very spot I was crouched in.

Close calls—far too close for comfort. She nearly caught me several times, but I always managed to remain just out of her sight, half a step ahead of her watchful eyes.

There was something about her that made me uneasy, more so than the boy. Maybe it was the way she held back, observing him almost like a predator sizing up its prey. Maybe it was her silence, the way she seemed to blend into the shadows without making a sound.

But more than anything, it was the stone axe she carried.

I recognized it immediately, the jagged edges of the stone and the rough handle. It was just like the ones I had taken from the lizard-like creatures earlier. She’s fought them too, I realized. She knows how to survive.

And that makes her dangerous.

I watched her much more closely as I did the boy. Every movement, every subtle shift of her body, I cataloged in my mind. She was hunting, though I didn’t know what her ultimate goal was. The golem? The boy? Something else entirely? I wasn’t sure. But whatever it was, she was patient, perhaps more than me.

No, I have to be even more patient.

I can’t afford a misstep, not with the way her eyes constantly roaming the surroundings, ever vigilant. There’s definitely something about her.

The golem, for its part, seemed oblivious to the two of them. Its massive form plowed through the forest without care, crushing trees underfoot and sending tremors through the ground with each slow, deliberate step.

Strangely enough, its glowing red eyes remained fixed forward, unaware—or unconcerned—with what transpired around it. But those red spheres, nestled in its chest, continued to glow faintly, pulsing with a strange energy.

I kept my distance, carefully trailing the strange procession. My own stone axes, tied to my belt, bounced lightly against my hips as I moved, but I was hyper-aware of the weight of them.

All of a sudden, the golem stopped. Its immense bulk, which had been moving with slow but deliberate force, now stood frozen in place. For a moment, the entire forest seemed to hold its breath. I crouched lower behind the bushes, watching intently, my body still, every muscle coiled like a spring.

The boy noticed the halt as well. I could see him—his bruised and battered form—take this chance. With a renewed burst of determination, he threw himself at the golem’s stone legs, grasping at the rough surface with bloodied hands. He began to climb, slowly but steadily, making his way up the towering mass. The golem remained oblivious, its glowing red eyes fixed straight ahead, unmoving.

I shifted my attention to the girl. She hadn’t moved much either, though her hesitation was apparent. She stayed crouched, her gaze flickering between the boy and the three red spheres embedded in the golem’s chest.

I could faintly see the calculation in her stance, the way her hand gripped the stone axe at her side. It was like she was weighing her options—waiting for the right moment, perhaps to make her own attempt at the spheres.

As for me, I waited. There was no rush. My instincts told me something wasn’t right, the hairs on my body perked right up as if reacting to something intangible. Then my stomach dropped. And that’s when I felt it—an immediate tug at the edge of my awareness.

Danger!

The feeling was sharp, instant, like a cold breath down the back of my neck.

I didn’t think. I simply reacted.

Without missing a beat, I quickly slipped behind the nearest tree, crouching low and pressing my back against the trunk, heart pounding in my chest. A split second later, the world erupted.

A blinding flash of light burst from the golem’s vicinty, followed by a deafening boom that rattled the air. It was as if a lightning storm had exploded right behind me. The flash was so bright, it burned into my retinas, even through the cover of my arm shielding my eyes.

The ground shook beneath me with the force of the explosion, and the roar of it echoed through the forest, rattling the trees and sending flocks of birds screeching into the sky.

What the hell happened?

I didn’t know, but I sure as hell understood one thing—it was dangerous. Too dangerous to ignore.

When the brightness finally faded, and the sound of the explosion simmered into an unsettling quiet, I cautiously peered around the trunk of the tree.

Smoke and dust had filled the air, slowly drifting in the faint breeze. My ears were still ringing from the blast, but I could hear the low, guttural rumbling of the golem—its once still form now moving.

It let out a deep, resonating growl, like the sound of rocks grinding together deep within the earth. Slowly, deliberately, it lifted one massive arm into the air.

I watched, transfixed, as the creature raised its arm higher, the muscles of stone in its arm shifting like tectonic plates beneath the surface. Then, with a terrifying force, it brought the arm crashing down into the area in front of it.

The impact was enormous.

The ground trembled violently beneath the weight of the golem’s blow, sending ripples of more dirt and dust cascading into the air. Clouds of debris erupted where the fist struck the earth, obscuring whatever lay beneath it.

It was clear now—the golem was no longer docile. Something had disturbed its calm, and it was now on the offensive.

But why?

I strained to see through the smoke, my eyes darting between the flurry of debris and the golem’s colossal figure. The boy and the girl—both of them were gone. I scanned the area frantically, but neither their forms nor their movements were anywhere to be seen.

Had they been caught in the blast?

For a fleeting moment, I wondered if they had been vaporized by that explosion of light and sound, reduced to nothing but dust.

But I didn’t care. My focus was now on the golem—and more importantly, what it was attacking.