As we descended into the valley, the acrid scent of smoke dissipated, leaving behind a sense of relief. The golems, it seemed, were more than just imposing statues—they were adept firefighters. The chaos of their firefighting efforts provided the perfect cover for our clandestine entry into the peculiar town.
This settlement was unlike any other I’d encountered. It felt both steampunk and futuristic. Its architecture reflected the golems’ design sensibilities: functional, efficient, and utterly devoid of human aesthetics. Railways crisscrossed the town, forming a complex network that connected every corner. There were no streets or sidewalks; the only walkable parts were the spaces between the sets of rails.
Without any aesthetic, the buildings basically looked like barns, wood rectangles with a simple sloped roof on either side. The most disturbing feature was somehow the paint on the buildings.
Most buildings were painted with two colors sometimes even three but without any discernible pattern. It looked as if the painters had run out of one color mid-stroke and continued with whatever was available. The effect was akin to something children or mental patients might have created. Combined with the lack of roads and eerie silence, the atmosphere was decidedly uncomfortable.
The first movement we saw was, unsurprisingly, the carts moving along the ever-present railways. Powered manually by one golem, they resembled the hand-pump carts I’d seen in movies. They were loaded with all sorts of materials, from metal ingots to lumber.
Now facing potential company, Isla was livid. She insisted that our illusion would look comically bad as we crossed the lines, given the awkward movements the golem illusion had to make to navigate the rails
Luckily, the golems remained preoccupied with the aftermath of the explosions. With their attention diverted, rail traffic was minimal. We tiptoed across the tracks, avoiding the few platforms we could see. It did get awkward when we reached a major junction of rail lines with our destination on the other side. There were at least twenty-five rail lines, and crossing them on foot must have looked completely out of the ordinary, if not a little bit funny, had anyone been watching.
Beneath the tracks, the earth had turned black and sloped ever so slightly. I realized this whole area might have been the site of a past explosion, cleverly concealed by the golems. Perhaps this explosion wasn't as fortunate as it initially appeared.
The imposing main building loomed before us. Its architecture spanned four or five floors, though the absence of windows made it difficult to say precisely. The structure dwarfed the nearby barns, and was made by some type of mate dark crystal structure.
As we circled the building, our eyes finally settled on the entrance. Unfortunately, two vigilant golems stood guard. Initially, I hoped they were merely patrolling, but it soon became evident that they were stationed there to prevent unauthorized entry.
The other troubling thing was that they seemed different to the other golems, I could swear their eyes were bigger and seemed less bulky.
“Do you think we can slip between them?” I asked Alira.
She regarded me seriously. “Highly doubtful.”
“The golems aren’t particularly bright,” I suggested to Isla. “Could you create an illusion to divert their attention?”
Isla hesitated. “Maintaining two illusions simultaneously is beyond my capabilities. Besides, if they detect my decoy, it might trigger an alarm.”
Time was of the essence. The distraction wouldn’t last forever, and who knew how many more golems would converge on the scene.
Alira intervened decisively. “Isla, create an illusion of yourself and lead the golems away. Then vanish and wait for us.”
Isla nodded in agreement.
“And if we encounter trouble,” she added, “we’ll try to teleport out. There's no need to take unnecessary risks since the alarm will be raised. Just leave the valley, return to the ursine, and report our situation. I’m not sure exactly where we’ll end up, but let’s meet at the ursine outpost.”
She began casting the next illusion while we lay prone near the track to conceal ourselves. Soon, she appeared as a golem with a missing arm. The illusion started moving toward the entrance, and Alira's guess proved correct as the guards turned their attention to it and attacked. One of them fired a beam from its two massive eyes, striking the head of the illusion. Fortunately, Isla was much smaller than the illusion, and the beams passed right through it, distorting the image.
Isla started running along the rail lines, with the guards in pursuit. However, they were quickly hindered by the rails, unable to move over them with agility. This allowed her to gain enough distance to reach the other buildings.
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Once the guards were far enough away, we got up and headed for the entrance. Inside, the building was bare, with the only difference being the crystal structure of the walls. The matte crystal walls gave off a soft glow that illuminated the hallways, but not enough for my liking. The bottom level had nothing particularly interesting—lots of empty rooms, giving the impression that everything was still a work in progress.
We walked slowly and carefully, taking a while to find a way to the upper level. It wasn't exactly a staircase but more like a spiraling road, similar to a parking lot ramp. As we reached the second floor, Alira peeked around the wall and her face went white.
"It's full of golems," she managed to stammer.
I froze, not moving a muscle, but I couldn't hear anything. Usually, golems were quite noisy, so this was confusing. I mimed, "Can't hear anything, you?"
She shook her head sideways and took another look, her face still pale. After a moment of indecision, I decided to take a look myself, awkwardly trying to get the briefest glimpse as I peeked. I saw a row of golems standing very close together, but something seemed off. With another peek, I noticed they were standing on something. Gathering some courage, I took a longer look instead of just a peek.
A conveyor belt, moving very slowly, was the only thing in motion in the large room that seemed to occupy the entire second floor.
They actually had a production line for making golems. I would have been more impressed had it not been so disturbing.
As curiosity tugged at me, I signaled Alira to ascend another level. Thankfully, the third floor remained devoid of a golem army; instead, it was filled with an array of peculiar pipes snaking down from the upper levels and disappearing into the floor.
We ascended cautiously, the ramp leading us upward. As it tapered off, the ceiling came into view—a lofty expanse at least twice the height of the other floors.
The dome-like architecture added even more grandeur to the space, leaving a lasting impression.
With each step, more of the colossal room unfolded before us. A circular arrangement of pipes encircled the chamber, converging at multiple points in the roof—perhaps a dozen or more.
Suddenly, Alira froze, dropping into a prone position. I followed suit, inching closer to her. At the far end of the pipes, an intense energy beam intersected the room’s center, its brilliance obscuring whatever lay there.
Ignoring the blinding light, I focused on the cause of Alira’s caution. Three golems stood near the center, their immobility giving a false sense of calmness.
"So, what's the plan?" she whispered, her voice almost drowned out by the hum of the beams.
With a low voice though not quite a whisper I responded "Me? I thought my plans were simple, and I even heard the word childish used once or twice"
"Yeah, well this is way out of my league."
Whatever plan I chose, fighting the golems would be part of it. Slowly, I began charging up my exploding orb.
"My guess this room is making the things keeping the golems alive, we call them batteries in my world. And if there is one universal truth it's that batteries don't need much to explode."
As I focused on the charging, I continued, "Charging a battery can also make it prone to exploding. I’ll go first and draw the golems' fire. You try to stop those energy beams by throwing stuff into them or, if that doesn’t work, try destroying the pipe-like structures."
She nodded and asked, "And by explode, how large are we talking about?"
"It could range from a small light show to blowing this whole valley to pieces."
She understandably looked horrified, "You don't sound surprised, you have such things in your world?"
"Remember when I told you the different kingdoms in my world found peace? Ironically, it was because they invented things that could level a city like Whitestone in seconds."
"How would that achieve peace?" she asked, visibly confused.
"We called it mutual assured destruction. Each side had enough nuclear bombs to make the entire Earth uninhabitable, so no one could ever win. If any side attacked, both sides would lose."
"That is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard in my life...but it does make sense, at least in part. What if you get a crazy leader who doesn’t care about anything, including his life?" she asked.
"It’s one of the flaws. Fortunately, we stayed clear of crazy people. Don’t get me wrong, we had evil people, sure, but crazy people don’t tend to rise through the ranks that often."
Looking around as if suddenly aware of our surroundings, she said, "Maybe this isn't the best place for a talk."
"I still need a few more minutes to charge this thing," I said, glancing at the orb.
"Don’t you need to focus to charge it, as you say?" she asked.
"We’ve had weeks of travel, and I do practice now and then," I replied with a hint of amusement. "But yes, I do need a bit of focus, so please, no kisses." I added with a full smile.
"That's all it takes? One kiss? All the mages I've met had incredible mental fortitude," she said in that almost serious tone I always loved.
"Maybe because they were old and dead inside. If you don’t lose it a little when a woman who is smart, gorgeous, and sometimes funny..." At that, she shoulder-checked me, "kisses you, you might be a... golem."
She was struggling to contain a smile, "I'll save my kisses till after then, maybe give you some real reasons to lose your focus" she added while running her tongue across her lips.
I felt my focus slipping for a moment, "Please no innuendos they are even worse, makes my mind wander." I said in a very serious and somewhat panicked tone.
"My bad, I got carried away" she said, avoiding eye contact.
Silence fell as I concentrated entirely on the Exploding Orb. Soon, it reached its maximum power, any further enhancement requiring more focus and time than I could afford right now.
"I think it's time to face the music," I said, taking a few deep breaths to calm myself as the adrenaline made my hands tremble just a little.
She looked at me, slightly confused. "That doesn’t make any sense...but it doesn't matter," she said, shaking her head slightly. "Good luck," she added.
Taking a final deep breath, I slowly stood up and began walking toward the center of the room. After only a few steps, the golems turned to face me.