It had its Heartstone. How could I be so stupid? Of course it still had its Heartstone. A simple look at its eyes and you could see the life, the vitality, still coursing through it. It did not have a master yet. It was no slave of this lame girl.

Though this did bring up the mystery as to why it followed this girl though. It protected her as its master, followed her as its master. Hung on her every word, as if waiting for some command, some purpose of its life.

A mystery I would uncover the truth of.

I looked at the large man, now seated across the fire from me, as he ravished his meal: some sort of perfectly cooked meat with a side of...well, more meat it appeared. The aroma enriched the air around us.

It took one look at this stranger, one true, inspecting look, to know where I might find my answers to this mysterious bond between girl and golem. This large man had a back made of iron and a soul made of steel; a true warrior if I had ever seen one.

“What are you training for, sir?” I asked the large man.

“Why, to become stronger of course!” the large man laughed.

Of course! To become the strongest in the land.

“I see...and where do you rank amongst your town’s finest, might I ask?”

The large man ripped near an entire mound of meat off of the deer leg he had been ravishing. Another laugh rummaged through the chunks of meat loudly traversing his mouth and gullet.

“I have no care for other’s performance, boy.”

‘Boy’? This man was barely older than I! No more than 30 moons older, I was sure of it.

The large man’s loud and booming voice quieted as he smiled at his companion. "We mean to strengthen our connection: man and golem.”

“Why is its name Delion?” the girl chimed in.

I may have corrected the man’s negligence and disrespect had the girl not spoken up. A hasty, though thorough, inspection of the man’s taut jacket, formidable jaw, and bear-like hands led me to confirm that the man deserved a pass or two for his disrespect. He truly reeked of pure strength and gallantry.

“That is a great question, lass.” He finally swallowed the feast as he pondered the answer. “I cannot truly say. See, my daughter named Delion.”

The girl ripped off her own mouthful of meat, though had barely chewed it when she asked, “Why not ask her, then?”

A moment of hesitation hung. The previously cheery, lively stranger quickly shifted to a dreary form.

“Well, she...she died.” His golem behind him, previously dormant, shifted. “A decade of moon cycles back, she fell ill. I had only a few mornings left of her smile before it fell from this world forever.”

This man’s pain...the loss of his daughter...is this what gave him the strength to command such a brute?

The large man cleared his throat. “And yours? What name have you given to your golem?”

The girl and her Golem exchanged pondering glances.

“Golem.”

This girl must be joking. I could hardly hide my dumbfounded look, let alone quell my chuckle.

The large man, however, simply smiled. Not a mocking smile, but an enduring smile.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

A moment of silence stood between them as the girl and stranger shared a look, a look I could not quite understand. The girl rose beside me, her golem following suit. In perfect unison their movements were splendorous. Who could truly blame me for missing the Heartstone within my grasp all those nights?

“We will fight now,” the girl simply declared.

This girl was dense, no doubt of that, but those words may have been truly a new level of stupidity.

“Why would you--?” The words stumbled from my mouth, embarrassment of her words breaking their flow. “I am so sorry, sir.”

The large man rose to his full size, the golem behind him following his lead a moment after.

No smile. No laugh. An unnerving calm fell over the opposing forces.

“I accept.”

The moment we moved from the battlefield each golem erupted with power. Flames singed the snow near Golem; an invisible force pushed the snow from Delion.

I had not felt such an intensity in so long. Not since my sister had caught me forewarning the ill-mannered boys of her class of the consequence of their lingering gazes. She certainly used ill-mannered words of her own in her assault of me. Though, through all of her curses, insults, declarations, I could not help but notice a glint of something within her eye. It seemed near appreciative, respectful, but her words had proven my assessment wrong. I may be mistaken, but that same look seemed to have appeared on the large man beside me.

The girl on my opposite side stood emotionless as always. She seemed near bored of this already, yet it was her idea, was it not?

Her lips lazily parted. “Go.”

The crunch of rock breaking through brunt terrain resonated as Golem lunged itself at the awaiting opposition.

“Block!”

Delion responded with a cross of its hulking arms, though it proved unnecessary.

The girl’s arms rose before her and Golem halted its advance, its own arms mirroring her own. The sound of her clap was masked over the explosion of rock and flame smashing together, the discharge smashing into Delion with such a force, it could not help but take a few steps in retreat. Still, its guard held.

“Delion! Respond!”

Delion’s block broke, and violet pulses resonated from its toes, scalp, and every stone in between, flowing into its hands. The sound of its hands smashing together nearly shattered my eardrums as the force shot toward the exposed rival.

The sound of Golem landing into the forest would be heard for kilometers, signaling to any that may become curious to stay away: this battlefield was occupied. All knew that any who interrupted could be subject to fines and loss of rank.

“Strike now, Delion!”

Delion was one step ahead of its master, using a nearby boulder as a launch pad for its aerial attack. The purple pulses shone high above as they collected into its clenched fists.

With the energy of a turtle, the girl raised her arms once more, this time bringing them in to cradle herself.

Golem followed suit once more, only its mimicry captured Delion as Delion’s strike landed where Golem’s torso had previously resided. The ground beneath the entangled golems splintered and broke, shooting flint and dust alike into the air.

Though nearly 100 meters away, the dust still engulfed us, piercing my eyes as I could not close them in time. An earthy taste filled my mouth, which caused me to cough as the dust cloud passed.

As I rubbed the dust from my eyes, my vision returned and I took in the scene of the battle: Delion had Golem on its back, though Golem had Delion in its grasp. Golem’s flaming arms wrapped around Delion’s neck; its legs wrapped around Delion’s legs. Delion could do nothing but pound the ground around them, a desperate attempt to possibly shift the landscape to its favor.

Golem’s grasp only grew stronger, the sound of crunching stone flowing through the evening air.

“You can do this, Delion!” the large man yelled in desperation. “Use your pulses to break its grasp!”

Purple pulses flowed into Golem’s body, breaking the flames momentarily only for them to return a moment later.

The girl held herself tighter.

“Ignite.”

An explosion of light turned dusk to dawn as Golem’s flames broke over the expanding crater’s walls, a pillar of flames breaking into the sky above.

I could feel the heat on my face, its burn drying my eyes, though I could not turn away. Not when the power before me commanded the attention of heaven, hell, and all in between. How could so much power--

“Stop!” the large man screamed through his clenched jaw.

Before the girl’s arms had landed to her sides once more, the pillar of flames was gone.