Further into the store we got, the harder it was to concentrate on the whereabouts of the remaining monsters. Dots kept appearing and disappearing in the corner of my vision as the golems shuffled around, so I knew they weren’t super close, which was fine since both my wands and Zapper’s skill needed to come off cooldown before we engaged.

What wasn’t distant, however, were the store shelves.

I had been hoping for this, but at the sight of row after row of picturesque packaged goods, my suspicions were confirmed: golems don’t appear to eat. At least, not the same things as regular creatures. Maybe they eat drywall, or wood scraps, or asbestos. But not food food.

All of the produce had long since rotted away in the Foodmaxx, giving the building a pungent aroma, and I didn’t even want to approach their frozen goods aisle. But the dried foods...

Just to make certain they were still fresh, I snatched a box from a shelf. It appeared to contain some sort of cheesy cracker, a fact which I confirmed as my teeth tore through both the box and the plastic wrapper inside. My eyes rolled up in my head in ecstasy.

Hey, I know it hadn’t been that long since the flapjacks, but I’m a growing puppy, okay?

[Other dog?] Zapper asked from up ahead. He bounded back and began sniffing the packet curiously. Using a paw, I tore it open, spilling the contents into the aisle for us both.

For a few minutes, there was nothing but the sound of snuffling and crunching. Finally, when even the crumbs were gone, I sighed happily and began padding along towards the enemies. [Break time’s over. Let’s see what we’re up against.]

There were three rubble golems, all hanging around near a far corner of the store. I saw a sign on one wall that said ‘dairy’, and a second on the other wall that said ‘eggs’, but for better or worse, neither appeared to be present. Just a trio of golems, lurching around aimlessly.

I turned back to Zapper. [Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. I want you to target the two further back with your skill. Try to move them directly into each other. The last one, drag as close to us as you can get, alright?]

[Okay!] Zapper let out an excited bark, and all three golems stiffened and turned in our direction. I sighed. The two of us were going to have to have a conversation about that when this battle was over.

No time for it now, though. I readied myself as Zapper launched forward and activated his skill.

Soon as he was about five feet away from the first golem, he started snapping his jaws together rapidly. I wasn’t sure if that was required to use his skill or just something Zapper normally did. Either way, the effect was immediate.

All of the monsters slowed visibly. Then the two golems in the back lurched towards each other, smashing their shoulders together and collapsing into a heap of flailing rubble. Meanwhile, the first one slid forward while in the process of slamming his fists to the ground. Zapper shot between his legs, and I suddenly found myself mere inches from the two stony arms that lay in a small crater on the cement floor.

Okay, that was a little closer than I’d been expecting. But I could work with this.

Letting loose with my stun spell, I hopped up the golems arms and accessed its crystal. Rather than use my Claw Slash, since I only had the one use, I opted to try to remove the gem the old fashioned way.

Without using my skill however, the gem was much more stubborn. I tugged and tugged and scrabbled at the monster’s skin with my paws, but couldn’t get it to even wriggle. The golem began to shudder beneath me, so I locked it up again with a preemptive second stun, but even the extra twenty-three seconds this bought me didn’t amount to much.

I was just about to give up and attempt my Clash Slash after all when a shadow loomed over me. It was one of the golems that Zapper had knocked down. The third was currently spinning in slow circles, trying unsuccessfully to grab the little dog. This one, though, had non-existent eyes only for me.

If not for the slowing aspect of Zapper’s skill, it probably would have gotten me. Stone fists slammed down onto the shoulders of its brethren, but I’d already activated my bracelet and been pulled out of harm’s way.

The bracelet released me into open air, and I fell about seven or eight feet back to the cement floor. I contemplated the two golems, and an idea formed in my head.

Quickly, before the last of Zapper’s slow effect faded, I hit the original golem with a third stun. I ran past the other golem who was trudging his way towards me and leapt atop the first’s shoulders. My paws grazed the gem nestled between them, but I left it be, turning to face my opponent.

The second golem roared and raised its fists. I waited, not wanting to move until the last possible second. The fists raised higher, higher... and then came crashing down with another immense roar.

I leapt away, and not a moment too soon. The firsts struck right where I had been standing with the sound of a building collapsing. I landed, spun, and was rewarded with the sight of the first golem crumbling to dust, its gem spinning as it tumbled to the floor.

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You have defeated: Rubble Golem (Advanced) — Level 8

300 XP and 1 Common Core awarded.

A dozen feet away, the golem chasing Zapper lurched up, then pivoted. I thought it would come in my direction, but instead it started trundling towards its remaining companion. Zapper barked, then trotted over to stand next to me.

[What’s happening, other dog?]

[I have no idea. Let me try to grab the gem, then we’ll retreat until our skills have a chance to—]

I never got a chance to finish. One of the golems reached down, swept up the gem, then slammed it against the other. They both shuddered, and as Zapper and I watched, their rubble began to ooze together. The whole mass writhed about, changing shape every few seconds.

[Should we retreat?] Zapper asked.

[No.] I spotted a gem—which one I didn’t know, probably didn’t matter—near the top of the writhing mass. [I’m going to stop whatever this is before it finishes. Cover me.]

And I was off running, with Zapper’s barks of glee following on my heels. I still had my Claw Slash, so all I needed to do was get to the top of the pile.

I fired a stun, but either it had no effect on... whatever this was, or I somehow missed, as the bulk of the monster continued to undulate. However, the movements had slowed enough that I felt safe clambering up it.

Stone crushed against stone as I pulled myself up onto the mass. A winding path stretched about twelve feet to where the gem—no, two gems. No, all three—glittered from the creature’s central mass.

As I hesitated, a spike of rebar thrust itself violently outward not more than a foot or two away. The rubble beneath me trembled.

I took a deep breath, then dashed forward.

More debris erupted from the monster in shuddering bursts. I dodged left, then right, then left again. A hole opened in front of me, and I leapt over it, feeling a rush of hot air as I flew past. A second later a massive tendril erupted behind me.

The gems were close. Eight feet. Six feet. Four. I dodged an explosion of nails and screws, then leapt over a churning mass of cement that frothed and burbled like boiling sludge. Some landed in my fur, and I felt the hot sting of it, but I kept running.

Two feet. One. I skidded to a halt and activated my Claw Slash.

My claws tore through the cakey stone but met resistance beneath. Frowning, I strained with my front paws, pushing for all I was worth. Slowly, slowly, I cut a jagged, zigzag line between the gems.

No sooner had I finished than another burst of hot air poured from this new breach. I leaned forward and seized the nearest gem, and in doing so felt the fur and skin on my face cook away from the intense heat. An angry growled escaped my lips, and I tugged for all I was worth.

The gem slid free, but still the monster beneath me writhed and roiled. I bent over again, choosing expediency over my need for healing, and felt the hot kiss on my other cheek.

I tugged at the second stone, my teeth screaming in pain. Breath wheezed through angry holes just above my jaw, where flesh hung in ragged strips, but still I pulled. Through pure, unadulterated agony, I pulled.

The second gem sprung free. I slipped it into my inventory along with the first. The ground beneath my feet shuddered, almost sending me sprawling.

From below, Zapper began to bark urgently. Though he sent no words along, I read the meaning in the sound clear enough. Throwing caution to the wind, I leapt for the final stone.

A blast of hot air poured from the wound, leaving me singed about the neck and belly. My growls turned to whimpers, and then a cry of dismay as the gem shot away from me.

A long tentacle burst from the monster, the gem riding on its tip. I leapt after, but another tentacle seized me by the hind leg, holding me fast. More hot air poured out from below, my fur buffeting away from me with every blast.

Turning, I nipped at the tentacle, then hit it with a stun blast. It froze in place, allowing me to slip away from its grip. The skin of my paw pads burning away, I leapt away from the opening.

Once I was a few feet away and a good hundred degrees cooler, I turned, my eyes searching for the gem. The monster was a mass of waving tentacles. It was like looking for a bone in a boneyard.

I leapt from outcropping to outcropping. Underneath me, the monster seethed worse with each growing second. More tentacles continued to appear. Still, the one with the gem should have been close to the source of the heat...

There! With an excited bark I sprang from my precarious ledge and dodged between waving, grasping limbs of stone. My paws began to grow hot beneath me, but I pushed forward.

The gem appeared, just slightly to my right. I fired my last stun, but another tentacle blocked it at the last second, freezing in place instead of my prize. The gem slipped away.

Growling, I dashed around an outcropping after it.

A tentacle slapped my back, taking some skin and fur with it. Blood continued to leak from the holes in my jaw. I knew I couldn’t continue like this for long. Still, I just... needed... one... more... chance....

The gem whipped past my face. My eyes darted after it, then followed to the base of the stalk.

This was it... wasn’t it? I couldn’t be certain, not with so many tentacles writhing about. The monster shuddered beneath me, and I realized I was out of time.

Claw Slash was off cooldown. I activated it, cutting through the tentacle’s stony base.

With a sound like a building collapsing, the monster went limp beneath me. My vision filled with messages, but I didn’t have a chance to read them, because the next moment I was falling, everything breaking apart as the golems lost their animative force. The floor reached up for me with greedy arms.

I slammed into a jagged and broken surface, feeling several bones snap. I howled in pain, bounced once, then landed for good. Laying amid the rubble, I attempted to draw in a ragged breath.

[Dog! Other dog!] With a worried bark, Zapper appeared at my side. Ignoring him, I drew up my inventory and began activating cores. Seven later, my bones felt joined together once again and the skin on my jaws had knit itself closed.

[Did we do it?] Zapper asked.

[I think so?] I turned to study the messages I’d ignored before.

You have interrupted a monster fusion! 500 bonus experience awarded!

You have defeated: Rubble Golem (Advanced) — Level 8

300 XP and 1 Common Core awarded.

You have defeated: Rubble Golem (Advanced) — Level 8

300 XP and 1 Common Core awarded.

Level Up!

You are now Level 6

5 stat points available

XP to next level: 4,000

[Yep,] I said, my tail beginning to wag. [We won.]

It seemed that this night was turning out rather profitable after all.