Estimated at least eight feet tall, the beastman had the powerful build of a feline predator, with sleek, black fur of obsidian covering its muscular frame. Its head was that of a majestic lion, with piercing, glowing eyes made of emeralds. It was made entirely of stones.

It’s a stone golem.

The golem’s body was adorned with intricate carvings and runes, pulsating with a soft, azure light. Each movement it made was accompanied by a subtle grinding sound, as if its stone body were shifting and adjusting. Despite its size and material makeup, there was an undeniable smoothness to its movements.

What is a stone golem?

A stone golem is a large creature made entirely of stone. Golems can be created out of various materials, like stone, iron, gems, and so on and so forth. Golems are strong and sturdy constructs with limited mobility. Golems are not alive and do not need to eat or sleep. Often they are controlled by powerful spellcasters, who use golems as weapons, or as guards. Think of them as soulless, magical androids.

So, basically, you’re saying that I’m becoming a golem myself? What? Am I slowly turning myself into an iron golem? Is that why Aquantula kept referring to me as a “doll?”

The short answer is, no. But this is a conversation best saved for another time.

The golem sat on the throne with a relaxed posture, looking down at me with a cold gaze. “You’re an interesting one.” The golem’s voice echoed as if he were perpetually in a cavern. “It’s been a long time since I felt this much mana. Who are you, young one?”

I looked around and saw no other exits, and the way I came in sealed itself. “Uh, Rina.” I might as well play along. He might be my way out if he’s changing the dungeon. “Who are you?”

“Kuljack, King of the Pawed Palace.” He stood up and rolled his shoulders. He stood close to nine feet tall. “I’m glad you were able to reach me.”

I squinted at him. “You practically opened the way to you. Why?”

Kuljack pointed at my hand. “I see you found the ring. That’s good.”

I looked down at it. What’s so special about this? “You wanted me to find this?”

He nodded. “Correct. Do you love me?”

I flinched. “What kind of question is that?”

He frowned as he placed a hand on his chin. “So it hasn’t taken effect yet. No worries.” He walked towards me. “She should start influencing you soon enough.”

I looked down at my hand and tried to throw away the ring. Even though I felt like I threw it, I didn’t see or hear where it went. Then I looked back to my hand and saw the ring wrapped around my pointer finger.

“What?” I tried to pull it off, but my fingers kept slipping off it. When I could get a good grip, it wouldn’t budge. ”Why won’t you come off?”

Kuljack grabbed my hand with the ring on it. “Don’t bother trying to remove it. It’s cursed by my love. She died of a horrible disease while wearing that ring. That ring has held her soul ever since.” I couldn’t pull my hand away from him. “I haven’t been able to find a golem with enough mana capacity to withstand the change. Based on what I can feel, you have more than enough.”

I gave one last tug, but he held my arm in a vise grip. So I stabbed him with my stinger arms. My blades just bounced off him.

He chuckled. It sounded like a rockslide. “Don’t fear. My love will take care of you.”

I extended my other arm blade and imbued it with my magic, enhancing my toughness, in an attempt to damage him enough to let me go. As I swung the blade, he casually threw my arm back at me. The force sent me backpedaling.

After regaining my balance, I extended my other arm blade and angled all four blades at the lion beastman golem. There was nowhere to run unless I could dig through the stone walls, something I wasn’t confident to do. That left me with deciding what to do with Kuljack.

The problem with deciding what to do with him began with my mind being unable to calculate if that was a good idea. His strength was far above mine, he was quick enough to react to me swinging at him, but he avoided my magic infused blade. That made me believe his toughness wasn’t insurmountable.

I still had my lycan form spell, but I was still concentrating on the string that led me back to Killa and Shadara. I can infuse parts of my body while concentrating on something, but that lycan spell requires too much concentration. If I could just anchor the string while I deal with…

Interrupting my thoughts was the loss of the connection with almost the entire length of my shadow string. I lifted the bit still connected to me only to see that it had been cut at the stone doorway I entered this room at.

“No,” I gasped.

I turned to him and glared as I let the magic of my lycan form take over. He isn’t giving me a choice. If he is going to cut me off from my sisters, I will beat him until he takes me to them.

My shadows engulfed me, raising me several more inches, only to be interrupted with a message from Orange. My magic faded as my eyes went wide at the message.

Foreign entity…We are losing…Remove…

“Ah, now that was troublesome.” A feminine voice purred in my head. “Now what to do with you?”

Walking in from the edge of my vision was Orange, my doppelganger. But she looked wrong. She was still in her maid outfit with long, flowing, bright orange hair. Her skin, with the exception of her face, was all metallic, just like mine. But the stinger arms I had were massive metal eagle wings. Her feet were wicked metal bird talons. Long and deadly claws replaced her fingers, and she lost a finger on each hand too. And to top it all off, her mouth was full of even longer teeth as her mouth pushed out slightly into a short muzzle.

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I had no doubt in my mind, that thing wasn’t Orange, but someone else.

Instinctively, I jumped back, putting distance between us and the thing that stole Orange’s form.

She grinned as she walked towards me, her talon feet scratching against the stone. “You’re the one my loyal Kuljack found to resurrect me into? Another golem like himself? I can work with this.”

I aimed my blades at her. “Who are you? What did you do with Orange?”

She didn’t stop walking or smiling. Instead, she swept her arm towards me. “My dear child, I’m your future, your life, and your death. I am the Queen of this dungeon. The true ruler of this place.” She stopped about five feet from me. “Elveil, Queen of the Pawed Palace. It has a nice ring to it. Now, submit to me.“

“What did you do with Orange?” I asked again.

She tapped the side of her face. “That name. Yes, I think I know who you’re talking about. The entity that controlled these things inside your body.“

“Answer the question!” I shouted.

“Or what?” She stepped up to me in a blink. Her fingers traced the blade on my left arm. “You’ll cut me apart? So uncivilized. It’s a good thing I will replace you.”

I moved to swing my other blade, but it passed right through her.

“What? Surprised at my speed?” She laughed. “Did you think this body was real? No, no. This is only a projection implanted into your eyes.“ Her grin grew malicious. “Now tell me why I can’t find your mind or your soul.”

I swung all my blades at her. “You know nothing about me!”

Each of them passed through her harmlessly.

The Queen of the Pawed Palace chuckled, a sound that sent shivers down my spine. “Oh, my dear child, you still don’t understand,” she taunted. “I removed this Orange entity from those tiny golems inside you. It will only be a matter of time before I can solve their inner workings. And through them, I will control your body.”

She leaned in closer, her nose inches from mine. “The only difference is, will you give up and slide into oblivion, or will you stubbornly cling on and watch helplessly as I control every action and word you say?”

Eveil tilted her head back, her eyes filled with amusement. “Oh, how adorable,” she sneered. “You think you can defy me? Your body is powerful; I can feel it. But so long as that ring is on you, you live on borrowed time.”

I glared at her. “I will destroy that ring.”

She smiled. “That will be quite difficult to do. After all, its curse binds me to you. You’re strong, but not that strong.”

“We’ll see about that,” I said.

Without hesitating, I cut off the hand with the ring on it.

Eveil raised an eyebrow. “Such spirit. I’ll enjoy breaking you.” She looked over at Kuljack. “You have done well, my love.” She turned back to me and smiled.

She isn’t going away. I looked down at my severed hand and saw that the ring wasn’t on it. My hand was still in the process of growing. I looked at my other hand and saw the ring was on that one now.

Eveil laughed. “Do you get it yet? You can’t escape from me. I’m in your head now.”

She’s right. But she isn’t controlling me. The only reason she’s talking to me is because she wants to gloat.

“That’s right,” she said. “So why not give up? I promise I’ll treat you well. And when I gain full control over your body, you’ll be able to experience everything that comes with it.”

I shook my head. “I won’t let that happen.”

Before my one hand finished reconstructing itself, I used my stinger blades to sever my other hand. As the hand hit the ground with a thump, the ring wasn’t on it either.

Eveil laughed maniacally. She pointed to my foot. You have got to be kidding me. While I couldn’t see the ring on my toes through my boots, I knew it was there.

“I admire your persistence. It will make your defeat all the more satisfying.” She tapped her chin. “How should we begin?”

Kuljack stormed towards me. “You will not mutilate my love’s new body!”

Eveil rolled her eyes. "Quiet, my dear. The adults are talking.” She waved her hand, and the stone golem stopped in his tracks. “Now, as I was saying…let’s begin with removing those nasty blades. Yes, I think that would be a good place to start.”

I glared at her. “If you want them gone, then take them off yourself.”

She chuckled. “You are a feisty one. I like that.” She waved her hand again, and the ceiling around me dropped down and became a cage. “This will take a while. You might as well make yourself comfortable.”

My hands had finished reconstructing themselves. I noticed that I was sitting at just over two hundred percent energy. I swung my arm blades and stinger blades at the stone cell Eveil created around me. How is she able to do this? I thought she was just a projection in my eyes. After failing to do any damage, I leaned up against the wall. The stone was too thick, and there was something different about it.

While most of the stone around me was black, this stone was more copper. When I hit it with my arm blades, it sounded almost metallic as I hit it. But I was trapped. I watched as my mana reserves plummeted rapidly. Something about the cage was blocking my ability to use my magic, regain mana, and drain it from me.

Eveil walked through the metal-stone bars and squatted in front of me. “I take it you've never seen netheidium before. It’s quite rare.” She reached out and stroked my face. “It’s one of the few materials that can disrupt mana. That’s why it’s so valuable.”

I leaned away from her. “Don’t touch me.”

Eveil laughed. “Oh, you are quite amusing. You’re nothing more than a pet now. The only thing that matters to you is my will. And I will have your body. I will live again.“

I shook my head. Everything was feeling heavier. My mana battery was being drained too. “If this stuff disrupts mana, how is your ring still working?”

“If the magic is strong enough, it can resist the effects of netheidium, my pet,” she cooed. “But that doesn’t matter. You will submit to me. Then, I will be whole again.” She stood up and stretched. “Well, I have things to do. Your body won’t remake itself on its own.“

She winked out of my vision. Finally she was gone. But I could feel something I hadn’t felt for what seems like forever. Pain. My feet were starting to ache. It was a dull ache, but it was still there. And it was getting worse.

I need to get out of here. I pushed myself up onto my feet and tested them. They felt weaker, and they were starting to feel hot.

I looked around the cage, searching for any possible escape route. The walls were solid, and the netheidium material seemed impenetrable. Panic rose within me as the heat in my feet intensified. I knew I had to find a way out before it became unbearable.

Desperation fueled my actions as I kicked, punched, and cut at the cage, hoping to weaken or break it somehow. But the netheidium held strong, unaffected by my attempts. The pain in my feet became excruciating, and I could feel my strength waning.

Suddenly, my feet gave out as the pain rose to a crescendo. I fell to the ground and stripped off my boots. All I could do was watch as the talons I kept retracted, extended out, and replaced my toes.

“No!” I yelled.

But it was too late. I watched in horror as the metal talons grew into my feet, pushing and fusing the bones beneath them into locked positions. The agony was indescribable. The track that allowed them to be retractable was filled with bone.

And then, just as quickly as it had begun, the pain was gone. My feet now ended in three metal talons. I couldn’t move them anymore. All I could do was stare at them in horror.

The Queen of the Pawed Palace‘s voice sang in my head. “I see you’ve gotten comfortable with your new talons. How are they? Do you like them?”

“What did you do? How?” I asked.

“Oh, they’re lovely, aren’t they?” she whispered, ignoring my questions. “And they’re only just the beginning.”

I knew instantly what was going to happen. She’s going to use my nanites to transform my body into the one she had. And she’s already learned to control my nanites. I don’t have any more time.