The stone golem was twice as tall as Friedrich and five times as thick. It’s burly arms of jagged stone could have crushed a building in a single thump and its legs were as sturdy as pillars. It lacked a face or head of any kind and its body was round and solid, capable of flattening Friedrich, Marina or Teleri with ease.

“Marina!” called Friedrich.

“Right,” said Marina from the ground, holding out her staff and casting a lightning bolt that would blow the golem to smithereens.

Before the spell even left her staff, the golem whipped up a sandstorm. The thick cloud of granules took the worst of the attack and what was left of the lightning bolt struck its body, chipping off a piece of stone so small that the golem looked no different from before.

Marina unleashed another bolt, but the same thing happened. The sand dampened the mighty spell so much that the bolt was insignificant by the time it hit its target. Marina backed away in a panic as Teleri loaded up one of her fiery arrows.

The elf drew back her bow as the golem approached with its arms raised and released the arrow. It pinged off the stone brute, leaving barely a scorch mark. As the golem slammed its fists through the air to crush her, Teleri rolled aside and clambered to her feet. The golem thumped the sand, missing its mark and swinging its arms wildly, trying to hit something; anything.

“Run!” called Teleri.

Friedrich let go of the pillar and the trio all ran for the edge of the clearing, but the sands rallied up and formed a wall, blocking their escape as the golem ran towards them still swinging its arms. The three scattered in different directions and Marina sent another desperate bolt towards her target, but the sands rushed to its defence once again as it charged after Friedrich.

“It’s always stone creatures,” he said under his breath as he tried to create space. “Why couldn’t it have been a flesh golem?”

Large hands of sand burst forth from the ground and grabbed his ankles, holding him in place to prevent him from running. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the golem was upon him and ready to crush him to a fine paste. He breathed deep and willed for Kitt to save him. He assumed his fox form and slipped free as the sand hands, narrowly avoiding being trampled by the golem as he scurried between its legs. It stomped its feet, trying to crush the fox, but Friedrich evaded him with ease. The only trouble was that he had no way of fighting back and would tire eventually.

Marina hurled another bolt, but it too was dampened by the sweeping sand that flew up to protect the giant stone beast. She looked at Teleri despairingly, who did not look overly confident herself.

“What do we do?” she asked the high elf.

“I do not know,” said Teleri, “I have no potions that will help in this situation.”

Friedrich ran towards them and returned to his human form. “Get as far back as you can,” he said, turning around and pulling the minotaur mask out from underneath his tunic.

“Don’t do it!” pleaded Marina.

“I have to,” he said, placing it upon his face while the girls ran.

The painful transformation took place and he grew taller and burlier as he stared down the golem barrelling towards him. Friedrich ran forward and drew back a thick fist, slamming it into the golem’s torso and cracking the stone. The golem stopped in its tracks, but met Friedrich with a punch of its own that hit him in the ribs. Even bracing himself, it was an agonising blow, but he pushed through.

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Friedrich ducked low and pushed the golem back, driving his hooved feet into the sand and forcing himself forward. The golem did not want to budge and hit him repeatedly in the back, but he could not back down. With a heave, he shoved the golem to the ground and looked back towards Marina and roared loudly.

Marina twirled her staff around and with a yell, she unleashed a thundering lightning bolt that cut through the rising sand and blew apart the golem’s left leg. She let out an ecstatic cheer, but Teleri did not look so convinced.

“Even if we defeat the golem, you may be forced to subdue Friedrich,” she said, making Marina’s face fall.

Friedrich retrieved the largest chunk of the golem’s leg that he could as it tried to right itself. He beat the golem’s other leg with it, smashing leg against leg until both were smashed into dozens of pieces. It tried to crawl away, but Friedrich would not let it. He grabbed onto the stumpy remains of its legs and held tight.

Marina ran closer despite Teleri’s attempts to hold her back and willed up all of her magical prowess into her staff. She channelled the energy through her amethyst, let loose another bolt that tore through the now-weakening sand shield and blew the struggling golem’s torso into chunks.

Friedrick grabbed the golem’s arm and hurled it from the hill, sending it flying through the air into the desert below. He picked up the other arm and slammed it into the pillar of the temple, breaking them against each other and letting out another terrifying roar.

He looked towards Marina and Teleri and moved towards them. As the fear grew in their eyes and they both raised their weapons to him, he stopped. He locked eyes with Marina who shook her head as she silently pleaded with him to maintain control.

Friedrich snorted and dropped to his knees, beating his fists against the sand. The minotaur tried to overpower him from within, but he could not let it win. He raised a fist and smashed it against his own jaw, knocking himself to the ground, dazed. All he could think about was the pain, but it kept his focus off of Marina and Teleri.

While he lay on the ground, thrashing about, Marina ran to him and placed her hands on his face. “Friedrich, can you hear me?” she asked.

He stopped thrashing and looked into her sapphire eyes. Marina smiled at him and stroked his face.

“Everything is going to be alright,” she said. “We’re safe now. You’re safe now. Don’t let him win.”

Friedrich’s chest heaved as he took deep breaths in and out. The will of the minotaur was fading away and he felt like himself again. He lay as still as he could while Marina kept her hands on his face, waiting for the magic of the mask to run dry. Each and every second was tense, but as time passed, he felt the burden of the minotaur ease and, before long, he returned to normal.

“Thank you,” he said, clearing his throat and then sitting up. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“You won’t have to find out,” said Marina with a sweet smile. “Have you still got the map?”

“Yes,” said Friedrich, pulling the map from his pocket. “Fingers crossed that this leads us to the goblin mask.”

“As dangerous as the minotaur is,” said Teleri, approaching and putting away her bow, “I cannot pretend that it does not have its advantages. We would have found a similar fate to Bahadur without it.”

“Do you think Namavar knew about the golem when he sent us here?” asked Marina.

“I would put nothing past him,” said Teleri, “but we will get the better of him one way or another. The fox will eat the snake.”

“The Lightning Foxes,” winked Marina, standing up and twirling her staff around.

“Careful!” called Friedrich, terrified she would accidentally blow either Teleri or himself up.

“I always am,” said Marina, slowing down the spinning and keeping her staff by her side. She stuck out her tongue and then laughed, but Friedrich and Teleri looked at each other uneasily.

“May I see the map, Friedrich?” asked the elf.

“Sure,” he said, passing it over.

“Hmm,” she said as she examined it closely. “We will be heading somewhat back on ourselves to reach the shore. It may take us a day or two.”

“All we’ve got is time,” said Marina with a shrug. “Do you want to wait for nightfall to travel?”

“The sun is already beginning to set,” said Teleri, looking to the sky. “I can bear the journey for now and it will ease as we walk. I believe I am becoming accustomed to it.”

“Is that why you complained the whole way from Legama?” asked Friedrich with a smug grin.

“Your exaggerations prove nothing,” said Teleri as she walked towards the edge of the clearing and slid down the sand.

“It wasn’t an exaggeration, was it?” Friedrich asked Marina.

“No,” she replied, shaking her head and giggling. “I don’t think she hears herself when she’s grumbling.”

“Come on,” said Friedrich, offering her his hand. “I’ll make sure we get down safely.”

“What a gentlemen,” said Marina, letting him lead the way.