“I’ve heard Reiszer can be persistent, but COME ON!” Xander threw a fit. “Unlike them, we have no horses at our disposal! Can’t we have an advantage for once?!”

“Stop complaining for once and push!” Cylia barked at him, pushing the wagon along the slippery slope and, with the help of others, putting the wheels on the makeshift stone rails for better traction.

Cylia’s sorry state was hard to look at. She had no shoes on, her hair was a mess, and her thin limbs were covered in bruises, yet she kept going with more than just 100% despite how tired she was. She simply knew that if she didn’t escape, she would return to a life of slavery.

They didn’t want to admit it, but silently—or rather audibly—they progressed with their tasks to get the wagons moving. Though they all knew it wouldn’t be long until the Reiszer would have caught up to them. There was no way they could outrun Reiszer without horses.

“How I wish one of us were an experienced earth-type caster with the ability to make golems.” Everyone turned to those scouts who displayed their use of earth magic.

Gallina nudged Jeorg. “I think they are expecting something from you.”

“Listen,” Jeorg grumbled, “my family may specialise in golem magic, but I’m not good at long-term infusing! Why do you think I joined the scouts?”

Jeorg blinked for a second and stared at Kiur.

“What?” asked Kiur. “Why are you looking at me like this?”

“Child, by any chance. According to your brother, and your display in summoning magic,” Jeorg stroke his beard nervously, “are you perhaps a Rufer who can tap into the earth?”

Embarrassed and out of breath from pushing the carts all day, Kiur gritted his teeth. “I haven’t been actively practising magic for the past three years. I may infuse golems, but I can’t construct them. That was never my forte.”

Everyone stopped in their tracks and stared bewildered at Kiur. No one dared to speak up except for Xander who grabbed Kiur by the shoulders. “You can infuse life into objects!?”

“Technically yes, but actually no!” Kiur tried to pry himself free from Xander shaking him, feeling overwhelmed and dizzy. “A former friend of mine taught me a thing or two when we were children, but I am no good in-”

“Just answer. Can. You. Infuse. THEM!?”

“YES!” confirmed Kiur with a shrill cry. He fell to his knees when Xander let go of him.

“Everyone,” Xander mumbled, “build two- no, three equine golems! We need them A.S.A.P! The rest of you will form formations and barricades to ward off the charge!” Having effectively taken over the chain of command, everyone eagerly accepted Xander’s instructions.

Though one wasn’t so keen on their task—two, if you counted Cylia into the equation by default. “Are you out of your mind? I can’t do this,” Kiur pleaded with Xander. “I told you, I haven't practised my magic in over three years. It’s a miracle I can use it at all. Have you seen my arms? There’s no telling what will happen if I-”

Xander grabbed Kiur by the shoulders again and looked deep into his eyes. A sense of seriousness surfaced—though it vanished utterly in the face of desperation. “We need your help more than ever- I need your help. As the key figure here, I refuse to die an early hero’s death. You can do it.” He gave Kiur a thumbs-up.

“Key Figure?” Kiur knitted his brows in confusion. A headache was making its way. “What in Irkalla’s name are you-”

“Alright, that was it for motivation. You can do it. Keep going!” Xander left Kiur dumbfounded and a single pat on his shoulder. He was not willing to continue the conversation any further, so he could appear dependable as he continued spouting orders to everyone.

Placing her hand on Kiur’s shoulder, Cylia let out an exasperated sigh for him. “Good luck, you can do it,” though that wasn’t helpful either.

Time was running short. With the construction of one equine-like golem done and Reiszer closing in, their entire hope rode on Kiur’s shoulders.

They expectantly fixed their eyes on him—so full of hope and confidence in him. He hated this feeling so much. Kiur hated the prospect of failing. To disappoint everyone—including himself.

If he failed, it would be all on him.

“Brother, where are you?” Kiur silently cried. “I can’t do this alone.”

“Incoming!” The scouts gave notice.

“Prepare to fight them off!” announced Xander, letting the ice sphere in his hand fly and drawing in the surrounding moisture. “I’ve been preparing this spell for a moment like this. It drains so much mana, but it will be so worth it.” Xander chuckled derisively.

With a smug expression on his face, Xander cast a spell. “Change the world around us. I will become the Convergence Zone and oscillate the region.” Xander’s magical energy rose to the sky, colouring the orange desert momentarily into a field of blue. His sapphire eyes flared. “Gather the water and damp the earth, Monsoon.”

The sphere floated to the sky, lit up, and dissolved itself. A white mist blanketed the dunes and slopes of sand ahead with a white and wet dew.

Resembling a simple magician’s parlour trick to entertain the masses, no one took Xander’s spell seriously. Some lost hope or felt stupid for trusting him while the Reiszer held a grin underneath their confident faces—confidence that shattered quickly when their remaining few horses were stuck in the wet sand and threw off their riders.

The one who was laughing now was Xander.

“You morons thought that was it? Fear the might of a Wizard of the former Magna Hellas Empire because I have the high ground!” Xander laughed devilishly at the sight of the so-feared Reiszer helplessly being stuck in the sand. “I’ve always wanted to say that sentence. Ha ha ha- AHHHHH!” Xander let out a high-pitched shrill from his mouth as soon as one of the smaller Reiszer, Lovis, jumped off the horse and attempted to behead him—missing Xander by a hair’s breadth if didn’t Cylia pull him away.

Other Reiszer dismounted and surrounded the villainously screeching and now helpless Xander. They closed on to him quickly when they saw the scouts abandoning him, not realising it was another trap.

“Swallow, devour and suck out the lives of the absent-minded, Quicksand,” connecting his gloved fingers with the sand, Xander created a pathway. Blue lines snaked along the fields. His water magic travelled freely to liquefy the sand like a disease.

Trapped, the Reiszer sank.

“Tie them up!” Gallina and the other scouts came down upon them, exploiting the confusion like the Reiszer previously did to them.

“Come out now, or do you want to get swallowed by it, too.” Cylia offered a rare hand to Xander, who was halfway sucked in by his own spell.

“Admit it, my plan was smart,” Xander gloated as he was being pulled out. “Half of them are stuck, and the rest are retreating. How’s progress on Kiur’s end?”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Progress.” If you asked Kiur, he wouldn’t give you a positive reply except for a raised eyebrow in irritation.

It has been years since he infused inanimate objects with life, and even back then, he wasn’t very good at it. It has been Seth’s prime territory, a former best friend of his who, like Kiur, had impressive control over communicating with their surroundings.

Kiur would watch as his dwarven friend would first build a construct and then willing operations into the said construct. It differed from forming a spell or offering commands.

It was more alive. Coming deep from within you and communicating with what’s around you.

Watching the process happen over and over while assisting Seth, Kiur would come to understand the basics of it. As a child, he once built a small orb-like golem and let it fly around, but it quickly collapsed from lack of control or self-sufficiency.

Before him now were three golems with the body of a horse. Nothing too fancy needed to be done. Just a minor life form created by living earth particles around him and giving them the tasks of running at a fixed speed or stopping when told so.

Nothing too hard. Really. That is, if you knew what you were doing. Otherwise, anyone could do it.

Though it was increasingly more difficult when someone was holding a rusty blade at your throat and clenched your chin in a vice—threatening to end your life with a simple motion.

—❂—

“Checkmate,” Hessian sharply breathed into Kiur’s ear as he and his comrades surrounded them. “Surrender. It will make your life easier.”

They outwitted them.

They couldn’t believe how they didn’t notice them. It was nothing but a diversion to get behind them. They should have known something was wrong when Hessian wasn’t leading the charge anymore.

They couldn’t keep on fighting when there was now a hostage.

That was their sense of morality. Sacrificing one life for the masses went against their code. Never again did they want to do this kind of act like when they sacrificed their symbol of unity almost a millennium ago. Kiur knew they couldn’t do it. That was how they were all taught and raised. Faced with the reality of having a hostage killed didn’t sit well for them.

Said morality thought didn’t apply to Xander or Cylia, who were raised on the other side of the continent.

“Don’t you dare do anything stupid,” Nertha, a slave warrior and comrade of Hessian, pulled Cylia by her hair when she tried to free herself. “Stay put, and we’ll make sure you won’t be harmed when you come back with us.”

Cylia glared at Nertha, who held her down with a firm grip like a bear. She wasn’t much different from Cylia, both slaves of the Reiszer, though their position couldn’t be more different.

Regardless of circumstances, both were determined to do anything to survive—though Nertha was willing to go over bodies.

“It is over. Trust me, surrender without resistance. It makes things easier,” repeated Hessian much more calmly, looking down at the kneeling Xander, his sword pressed against Kiur’s throat. “Don’t you want your friend to be unharmed? Unlike the soldiers, we can promise not to harm you. It will be easier if you just obey.”

“Easier you say?” Xander mocked, reviewing each of them. From the slaves to the soldiers behind them. He then got an idea. “I’ve to say, I’m surprised that none of the soldiers here did anything significant. Don’t you feel embarrassed?”

“What did you say? Why should we feel embarrassed?” responded one soldier, suspending his task of tying up a scout. “Who are you to talk to us like that?”

Xander chuckled scornfully with a nervous yet astute grin. “Someone who was defeated not by you, but by some dirty slaves. Gosh, I feel so bad about losing. I really can’t stand it,” his chortle increased when he locked eyes with the soldier and sneered. “But I can’t imagine how humiliating it must be for you to be outdone by mere thralls.”

“What was that!”

“How dare you- We will not tolerate being humiliated like that!”

Agitated, the soldiers protested as they tried to get to the one mocking them, but were held back by the Reiszer slaves led by Bjorn.

“Hey, stop that. We were ordered not to kill them-”

“Shut up, thrall!” Bjorn took the first hit and a full-out brawl ensued between the fragile allies. Xander’s agitation had worked, knowing the tension between free soldiers and warrior slaves they had encountered in the camp.

Those two factions were anything but equal. They looked down on slaves. Even if thralls carried weapons, they were forbidden from using them against free people. The same restriction didn’t apply to the soldiers. A stark difference in class.

It was one of the extensive facts Cylia provided them with. Being a thrall herself, she had experienced the abuse first-hand. Giggling under her breath, Cylia secretly enjoyed the fight Xander caused.

She held no sympathy for them—even before she switched sides.

“Do you think this will end well for you?” growled Hessian, muscles and veins tensing on his face. He was so close to driving his sword through Xander.

“Kiur, will you be able to finish it?” inquired Xander, his eyes focused on any sign by Kiur.

Feigning confidence, Kiur simply raised his fingers in a mocking V-Motion. Xander grinned, though Hessian caught on quickly. “Oh, hell no you’re not-”

“Sand Burst!” Xander released the rest of his water magic into the sand. The sand exploded in a series of waves, disorienting the enemies and obstructing their view.

“Kill them all! It’s not worth it!” Hessian barked his command. “Go to Hel!”

Kiur’s, and Cylia’s captors went for the kill, though the two wouldn’t go out without a fight. Kiur bumped the back of his head against Hessian’s mouth.

Cylia, though, went for a more aggressive approach. She pressed her fingers against the exposed thigh of her captor and dug into her muscle. Nertha screamed and let go. They fought back once more for their freedom.

Using the chaos to his advantage, Kiur squeezed himself past the Reiszer to reach the golems, but his danger still followed him.

“Stop right there!” Unable to get past the sea of soldiers and slaves, Hessian threw his rusty sword. With mere centimetres away from reaching the golem, time froze for Kiur.

“It’s so close.” Kiur heard a strange voice inside his head. Everything went still. His delusion picked up an ethereal form of the sword in her delicate hand. She was oddly grim, as was her presence, barely visible and shrouded in dark muddy water. “You could hesitate and end it right here.”

Kiur’s eyes widened upon the proposition, the sword drawn close to his throat. “Why would I do that?” asked Kiur. “I-”

“Isn’t that for the best?” she asked. Her existence flicked from the fabric of Kiur’s mind. “Why don’t you let it hit you? Label it as an accident and avoid disappointment, no? You can’t infuse the golem with life. Admit it, you- we are failures. We should give up.”

Ashamed Kiur let his head sink. Time slowly unfroze itself.

“Isn’t that why you hide yourself from everyone? Talk so little as to not stand out because you feel afraid? Afraid to disappoint anyone for being who you are? Who you have become?” His delusion put the ephemeral sword back in place. She reached out for Kiur with her black hand.

Carefully, he considered her notion and took her hand. A cold touch welcomed him with a miserable smile of hers. “It is ok to fail. Just let it happen. No one will judge. Once you are gone, it will all be over. No more regret. No more expectations. You can rest.”

The sword edged closer. Kiur could practically feel the frosty steel prickling against his skin.

“It’s almost so easy,” Kiur admitted. She attempted to smile, but couldn’t. Kiur tightened his grip on her hand. Flames sparked free from his palm and set her aflame. She didn’t flinch. The flames couldn’t hurt her. Instead, she looked surprised. “I’m sorry,” he said, caressing her hand with his thumb. “But seeing how everyone is trying their best, I can’t just, well, not try.”

“But what if you fail?” she pleaded. “What if you fail and-”

“Then it was meant to be this way.” Kiur let go of the delusion and moved his hand to the lifeless and coarse form of the golem. The simple horse was devoid of life and waited for a purpose to be given. “I didn’t get to talk to my brother yet. I must apologise for my behaviour. Mother must be sick with worry. This golem will work! I know it!”

Then a red light came from Kiur’s hand and engulfed them both and the golem.

His delusion left a simple smile as she vanished inside Kiur’s heart. “Good luck.” Was the last thing she said before the flow of time returned.

“Kiur!” Xander yelled out helplessly as he was clutching his chest from mana exhaustion. He saw red.

Everyone saw red and stopped fighting as they turned to the bright and shining light. They witnessed the birth and neighing of three magnificent horses coming to life, with the biggest and most gallant one protecting Kiur by taking the hit for him.

Unbothered, the scarred horse let out a thunderous neigh and whirled up the sand with red lightning swirling around its artificially burning azure blue mane that originated from its core burning in a bright blue flame.

“The golems are done,” said Kiur confidently. He stroke the regal form of his golems that would enable their escape.