Sand rained down from above, but the shuddering walls held firm. Emily could feel the distinct tremors of battle coming from somewhere directly above.

The metal grinding on metal drew Emily back to the chamber. She yanked on Cupcake’s reins to get her back off in time for a metal fist to swing directly overhead

The golem had closed the distance in the meantime and was raising its fist again.

In response, Emily sent out a band of blood, which she wrapped around the incoming fist and diverted it, or at least tried.

The weight behind it metal body was so large that Emily could not stop all its momentum and the edge of its fist clipped into Cupcake's front paw.

The Rime wolf snarled at the hunk of metal and widened the distance between them, limping away.

The golem loomed large, yet its speed left much to be desired. Emily tried to bond its fist to the ground, but the effort barely slowed it. As it rose to its full height, her blood bindings snapped, recoiling like overextended rubber bands.

Emily didn’t hold out much hope that it would work, but she made two quick hand gestures and cast a lift spell at the entity.

The spell washed over it like water over a duck's back.

Emily snorted at that and tried to think of her options. If that hadn’t worked, the likelihood of her scepter working was low, but she drew it anyway. Not to fire but as a beating stick.

The golem continued its approach, and Cupcake danced away, keeping them just out of range. Emily scanned for an escape route as Cupcake bought her precious time. Unfortunately, there was no obvious weak point in the golem’s frame—she couldn’t blame the designers for not making it easy on her. She did, however, blame them when the golem suddenly halted, its fist morphing into a claw that launched straight at them.

The projectile was fast and connected to a chain that clamped down on Cupcake's back leg.

“A grappling hook? Really!?” Emily yelped.

The chain pulled taunt and the golem began reeling them in.

Seeing this Emily sat up and created two large blood crescents, cutting down at the the weakest point. Both landed at the same point but the chain held fast, barely showing even a scratch.

Emily growled to herself and glanced back at the golem's arm.

At the exact point of transformation, Emily had spotted something interesting about this golem. It was hollow.

When it had fired its claw at them there was the briefest of moments where she could see inside it. By the looks of things, the golem was not a solid piece of metal, but more like a suit of armor. More interestingly, there were dozens of wards lining the inside of the metal.

But how could she exploit this?

She very much doubted the thing would stay still long enough to allow her to fiddle with them, but there had to be a way.

As Emily was thinking about this the chain began to shrink, dragging Cupcake, and by extention her towards the golem.

Cupcake’s ears pressed back to her skull as the golem loomed over them. All the while Emily began to gather her blood.

The space was narrowing by the second and the golem raised its other fist to slam down on Cupcake.

Just before it did though, Emily sent a wave of blood at its chest, splattering against its shiny exterior before she found the grooves where the plates fit together and wormed her way in.

The moment she did the golem froze and a deep vibration came from it.

Emily grinned and moved her blood up along the inside of the hollow shell, trying to fill all the groves, but then something unexpected happened.

The golem suddenly let out a hum and Emily’s blood faltered.

Having never experienced something like this before, she didn’t expect her blood to begin being pushed back. Well not quite. It was more like the water in her blood was being forced from the golem’s insides, and as a result, it began moving again.

Emily cursed and triggered vital shell around herself and Cupcake. The transparent red barrier crumpled as the fist descended, hurtling them into the guard railing. When Emily got her bearings she saw that the claw had remained affixed to Cupcake's leg, allowing for it to reel back in a repeat the process.

This entity was a perfect counter to Emily’s abilities. She couldn’t cut or harm it. Magic didn’t work on it, and to make things worse, if she did manage to kill it, she very much doubted she would get anything out of it.

“Fuck this! We’re leaving.” Emily said knowing when to cut her losses.

The problem was that whatever metal this mindless hunk of junk was made of was too tough for Emily right now so she couldn’t cut the chain.

Seeing this, Emily raised a hand and created another crescent of blood, aiming it towards Cupcake's leg.

“Sorry girl, I’ll grow it back for you-”

“Halt! in the name of High Council!” A gruff voice called out behind them.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

The golem froze, at the same time both Emily and Cupcake shifted to stare out over the gorge.

Emily had barely even heard the approach of the person now riding on the back of what looked like a giant raven.

Unlike the one she had seen in the snow, this bird was massive, with a sandy brown plumage.

On this back rode two individuals, both with bows drawn and aiming at Emily. The front rider had short auburn hair with a neatly trimmed beard and seemed to be to one the had spoken.

The edges of their arrows glowed with the ominous light of a skill, and while that was compelling on its own, Emily noticed four more birds closing in.

Deciding to lay it on thick Emily let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh thank the gods, you’re all here. I need some help. I meant no harm but this thing attacked me.”

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say because the frontman leveled his bow at Emily.

“There are no gods here, when will you get that through your skulls.”

Emily frowned up at the man and glanced back at the golem.

“Oh. Well, trust me when I say I have no love for the gods. I’ve just been through a lot and I thought that would get you to help me. Please lower your weapons, I won’t yet harm any of you.”

The man leveled his gaze on Emily as the raven closed the distance and landed on the railing beside her.

“You think I can afford to believe that? When the church is up there knocking on our front door? I’m more inclined to believe you fanatics are trying to poison our water supply.”

Emily sighed as she realized this was heading in a dangerous direction.

At her urging, blood poured from her leg and sunk into Cupcake’s fur, making a beeline for the chain connecting them to the golem. When it got there, she had it run subtly under the chain. The golem didn’t react and neither did the riders so she continued to stare them down.

“Look, I told you. I did nothing wrong, nor am I here to poison anyone. I came through the mountains, I was traveling with a mercenary group called the Wandering Fangs, but we got separated. You are the first person I’ve seen in weeks.”

The front rider still had his bow drawn but he paused taking Emily in, and for the first time since he'd arrived, he seemed to hesitate. Then his eyes fell on the broken line of wards on the ledge and his face hardened.

“Okay, I know how this looks, but that sound was really annoying”

The man snorted at her.

“You deactivated a sixth-rank ward because you were uncomfortable? Not likely. You’ve come at the wrong time, even if what you say is true, you need to come with us.”

Emily could see she’d been right about this not going well, and to make matters worse the other four ravens had arrived with their riders.

Luckily, Emily’s blood had reached the arm of the golem and had already begun weaving its way in. This time her blood was not expelled, as the golem had gone inactive the moment it had gotten an order from the rider.

“Look. Let’s talk about this I can’t have an arrest on my personal record, what would employers think?”

The rider's face was a mask of confusion but it refocused when another explosion went off above them, causing more dust to fall from the ceiling.

“We will talk, but only when we bring you back to the city to make sure you can't lie to us”

Emily drew air through her teeth

Her goal of entering the city was just within reach but she had a feeling if she went with these men now her conditions might not be so favorable.

“Yeah, that’s not going to work for me. Never been a fan of due process, see.”

The rider's demeanor shifted as his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed, a fierce intensity flashing across his face. His grip tightened on the reins and he whistled twice.

The four nearby riders moved in, closing off Emily's escape routes.

“That may have sounded like a request, but it wasn’t. Don’t force my hand.” the rider said, his eyes flickering over to the metal giant.

Emily’s smile never wavered as blood continued to coat the inside of the golem.

“...I know.”

Saying this Emily sent a charge of grey source through the connected blood. She’d already been trying to destroy the runes inside the armor but the material was just too resistant. All it would take was a cut or nick to it to change the shape of the runes.

As far as she understood altering functioning runes would make the spell inert, but sadly this wasn’t an option. If she had a bit of time she might be able to whittle away at the metal but she needed another plan right now.

If destroying didn’t work then what about replication?

What would happen if she copied all the runes inside the golem and activated her own ward? The maps of how to do it were all already there, all she had to do was trace the lines.

There was only one way to find out.

The grey source traveled into Emily's largest ward yet, and it began causing sparks to bounce around inside the golem, but not achieve much else.

“All units, apprehend the suspect!” the rider called.

The golem reacted beginning to reel Cupcake in again. Unable to resist, Cupcake’s claws began sliding across the metal floor again, it was only a matter of time before they would be in range. “Dammit, just let go you metal fuck!” Emily couldn’t help groaning.

The golem shuddered and she felt the blood ward in the golem's chest suddenly take hold. All at once its claw detached from Cupcake and reeled in.

Emily was as surprised as everyone else when the gentle blue light issuing forth from between the plates shifted to red as it awaited orders.

It may have stood there inert, but the riders certainly weren't.

Emily only had a fraction of a second to put together that her ward had not destroyed the golem but pressed it under her thumb, and she laughed

“Hell yeah! Apprehend these men, big guy.” Emily said, pointing at the charging riders.”

Its reactions were immediate as two grappling hooks shot out at the nearest two ravens.

Seeing her window closing Emily laughed and yanked on Cupcakes reins. Charging back toward to opening to the gorge. Emily could feel Cupcake worry, but she reassured her and edged her on.

The Rime wolf growled and charged forward, vaulting over the railing and launching into the open air toward the ravens. One was already struggling against the golem’s arm reeling it in, and the other three didn’t expect her to dive into the gorge. Emily created three crescent blades and sent them flying at the ravens, aiming at their riders' weapons. The blades shredded the well-crafted wooden bows but glanced off their armor.

Yelps of pain trailed Emily as she tethered herself to Cupcake and sent a thick cord of blood back toward the cliff. Cupcake’s momentum carried them outward, and as the line went taut, Emily used it to shift their force upward. The wolf crashed into the side of the gorge, then, using their remaining speed, began sprinting up the wall. Emily didn’t need blood price for this; with a wall nearby, she had a more efficient way to ascend.

Whenever they began to fall, Emily latched onto the sandstone with her blood, attaching it to Cupcake’s harness to keep her grip firm. Each time, she released the rear threads and shot them forward, propelling them upward—like a bloody spider scaling a mountain.

Laughter bubbled from Emily as the riders regrouped and pursued. They were as fast as Cupcake, if not faster, but the Rime wolf instinctively dodged the arrows whizzing past. Glancing back, Emily caught sight of the flustered rider with a dark red beard loosing an arrow. It homed in with precision, forcing her to flick her wrist and cast a vital shell, which shattered on impact, making her grunt. They were stronger than they looked.

But the sky was close now, the top of the gorge in sight.

“Don’t follow her above the shroud!” someone behind her shouted. The air churned with energy, and suddenly, the landscape snapped into clarity. To her left, the city sat across the gorge, enclosed within a massive dome of blue energy, with attacks rippling off its surface.

Emily looked out over the other side and spotted a small army laying siege to the city.

She’d arrived on a battlefield.

Blood points: 283