We came upon the dwarves midday on one of their well-traveled roads. The dwarves had what seemed to be over a hundred men and women guarding covered wagons. Each wagon was being pulled by two of the dwarves’ large rams. The rams seemed to struggle from the weight when the incline of the mountain became exceedingly steep. So steep in fact that it made many of the dwarves skid back down. A few of the dwarves had walking poles in their hands for this type of terrain. But those dwarves left weak spots in their defenses. Since their weapons would not be drawn as easily.
I had ordered the golem to maneuver Marco over the terrain. The golem’s new wings were already coming in handy. Normally this type of terrain would be worse for us than the dwarves. But, the ability to fly over the ground below gave us a new advantage against them. My golem placed Marco next to me with the grace of a child first learning to walk.
“Ouch,” he said, rubbing his backside. “You found a pleasant spot here. You can see for miles!” He exclaimed as he enjoyed the view from one of the many minor peaks of the mountain. This peak also had the advantage of having a few large evergreen trees. We used these trees to obscure ourselves from the dwarves below. I didn’t think the dwarves would be looking up at the terrain around them, but extra precautions never hurt.
“It almost feels like cheating,” I smiled over at him. “Think your power can reach them down there?” I asked, unsure if I had overestimated Marco’s abilities.
“If I steal a play from your book, I should manage. All I need is to feel out a soul and I can use my imprisonment ability to do it. I have even created a better way for my flames to jump from one target to another!” Marco said.
“Good, once the fire starts I will send the golem in too.”
I picked this strategy since I wouldn’t have to see the faces of the people I killed. Even now, the thought of what I did to Annabelle haunted my dreams. But, what Alfonso did was also not forgivable. The slaughter of children and the elderly as they slept was a deplorable act all its own.
Marco let out a big breath of air and began a meditative process. He was mimicking my process of using mental imagery to better focus my powers on the enemy. His power didn’t need the same kind of flourishes and rituals mine did. Because, even before he opened his eyes, the screaming started. My golem needed no more motivation to swoop in.
Even from this vantage point, I could make out bits of the carnage. The dwarves had moved into a formation around the carts with great speed. They had organized into action from the sounds of their comrades screaming. That had been a mistake, though. As they crowded together, it only sped up Marco’s power. His flame jumped from one dwarf to another. When the dwarves realized their mistake, they fled into the woods. They tried to find cover from their unseen attackers. When they did, though, the golem swooped in, slicing down those who fled.
The carnage continued as the dwarves directed their fury at the golem. Massive balls of fire and wind blades struck at the creature. The attacks destroyed the outer stone armor. Motivated by the perceived success, the dwarves rallied on the golem. They flung everything at the creature as it tried its best to dodge the brunt of the attacks.
“And that’s the last of them,” Marco said with a sigh. “You can call the golem up if you want.”
“Okay, it will move the golem back out of range. They only broke off his outermost shell. But, I don’t want them to keep wailing away at it.”
“Better for me anyway if they die from the flames.”
I sat down next to Marco as we thought the fight was over. It should have been over! The golem was even monitoring them, making sure none of them put out the hellfire. It had even intervened, swooping down on those who had the power to remove it. But the dwarves had a weapon of last resort to use.
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“Cannons!” I shouted.
The realization dawned on me as they began to uncover the wagons. Underneath those covered carts were massive dwarven cannons. The same weapon that they knew was used the first time against Nucrestria.
“Why are they still fighting?” Marco cried back. “They should be dead by now.” The panic in Marco’s eyes worried me.
“Boom!” one cannon rang out as it hit a few hundred feet from us. They must have finally determined our location and decided that it was time to attack back at us. The devastation that the cannon left made me feel grateful that their first assault had been missed.
“We have to find cover now!” I said, “The next shot might land.”
Marco and I ran, but my golem did not follow. Marco had been correct in saying that his power had latched onto each of the dwarves. Now the golem was working on expediting that process. With most of what we left off, the dwarven forces focused on shooting us with cannons. The golem could make quick work of the back line. Gaining more and more power with each kill. The golem was also a harder target to hit with the cannons, both in the air and on the ground.
After a few more assaults on our location, the cannon fire came to a finale. We had decided to bunker down on the other side of our vantage point, placing a solid wall of stone between the dwarves and us. It may not have been the bravest action for us to take, but at least we had our lives.
“It is over now,” I sighed to Marco.
“Next time we wait to go with Tiger’s plan. That was way too close for comfort.”
“What do you mean? We both lived, didn't we?”
“Barely!”
Marco and I both laughed.
“That’s enough fun for the day,” I said to Marco.
“Well, those cannons are calling, aren’t they?” Marco asked.
“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.
“Did you see those explosions? They were something out of this world! We need to take them and bring them back for Tiger! If we have that type of firepower on our side we will for sure win this stupid conflict.”
“How do you expect us to drag those things back with us? Oh,” the realization dawned on me, “You need me to make more ox golems to drag them back with us.”
“Glad you got the picture! Well, get to it!”
We made our way down the cliffside from our ambush point. As we maneuvered down, I did what Marco said and created a few ox golems. I had borrowed a few of the souls that were pouring out of my champion golem. Noticing that the creature could break apart at any moment, I made a mental note that I would need to come up with a redesign that would contain its power. I knew that this would not be the last time my golem had to fight for me and if it broke apart in the next I would be dead.
As I had expected, my golem or Marco had killed the rams as well. They no longer were tied to the carts. This made it even easier for me to hook up the six oxen golems I had rushed to put together. Even though I was imagining ox when creating these golems, it did not show well. They were rough creatures with jagged bodies and appendages twice as thick as any oxen I had ever seen.
"Are you done hooking them up?" Marco asked from where he was lounging on a cart.
"Yeah, that was the last of them," I replied to him.
"Alright then, let's get back to the outpost. I am sure Tiger is about ready to kill us."
Tiger had been angry with us, but we did not come empty-handed, which helped.
"Why did you not wait for my orders? Now that we are a formidable force is a known variable," Tiger scolded.
"We..." I tried to get out.
"471, I did not ask for your input. I would expect this kind of thing from 469. But, you know better than to go off and attack without the order!" Tiger barked at us. "Now both of you get out of my sight. I would rather not see your faces as I have to redesign our attack strategies."
We left Tiger's office to go back to our separate living quarters. When Marco turned back to me, and said, "Thanks for today. I know things have been difficult for you lately with your ex-friend and all. But, I am glad it was you I bumped into all those months ago." He gave me a soft smile and a quick kiss on the cheek as we parted ways.