With PIC in hand, Lhogan leaned in and spread his eyes to the scanner. A quick shimmer of heat lit up the halo of his eyes, and the door beside him opened.

“After you,” Lhogan offered.

“Ladies first, huh?” she asked.

“I’m nothing if not a gentleman,” Lhogan said.

“Thanks. Sol,” El said, turning to the other man. “You’re the last resort. Let us handle what we can. Okay?” Best to keep his identity a secret as long as possible.

“Understood,” Sol said with a nod.

“The Sparkless guy is our secret weapon?” Lhogan asked.

“Bet you didn’t see that coming,” El said with a wink, then ducked through the doorway and down the stairs. When she got to the next door, she paused and waited for Lhogan to do this thing. Again, the door slid open in front of her, and El leaned through. “Looks clear,” she said and stepped out.

Like the main hallways above, the tunnels were eerily quiet. No movement. No sound.

“Come on.” She jogged down the hall toward the golem’s chambers. “Lhogan, last time we were down here, they hadn’t finished the golem’s head. Do you know if that’s done?”

“It is,” he said from behind her. “Saw it attached yesterday. It’s… intimidating.”

Burn it. There goes that hope.

“Hold up,” El said quietly, and slowed to a stop at the intersection leading to the golem’s chamber. Crouching, she peeked around the corner at the large double doors. “No guards. Door is still closed too. You can get us in one more?” she asked, and looked back to Lhogan.

“Is it odd there isn’t anybody guarding the door?” Lhogan asked, shuffling from foot to foot.

“Yes,” she said. “Means they’re probably inside. We need to be careful with these when we go in.” She nodded toward the PIC around her right arm. “If the hostages are inside…”

“I’ll follow your lead,” Lhogan said.

“Good enough. Be ready for anything.” El slipped around the corner and down the hall to the small side door.

“I’ll be right behind you,” Lhogan said. “Give me space to get in,” he told Sol, and the other man took an extra step back.

El gripped the PIC tightly, palm sweaty around the handle inside, and nodded to Lhogan. “Ready when you are.”

Lhogan leaned in to scan his eyes, the halos bright rings around his pupils, and El turned her focus to the door in front of her.

The moment it cracked open, she stormed in, PIC barrel up and ready to ignite. Four steps in, enough space for Lhogan follow, she stopped, eyes scanning the room for threats.

Except, other than the still golem hanging in the center of the sphere, there were none. No Ignitio. No Firestorm. No Oril. No Church. No… anyone.

What the Blaze?

The sound of the door sliding closed behind her, and El turned to look directly into the wide barrel of the PIC on Lhogan’s arm.

“Lhogan?” she asked. “What are you doing? Where’s Sol?”

“Drop the weapon,” Lhogan said, roaring flames circling halos in his eyes and spiraling outward. There was something inhuman about those eyes. Something terrible. “Slowly. Any sudden movement and… well, you can say goodbye to that pretty little head of yours.”

“Lhogan, what’s going on? You can tell me,” she said, but didn’t move. Did she have a play here? From that range, without the protection of her flame armor, Lhogan wasn’t exaggerating about losing her head.

“I said, drop the weapon!” Lhogan shouted and stepped in, pushing the warm electrum barrel up against the side of her face as she turned away from it.

Bastard.

“Sure, whatever you want,” El said, and slowly slid the weapon off her right arm and crouched down to ease it to the ground. The barrel of Lhogan’s PIC never left the side of her head even after she stood back up.

“Weapon’s belt too,” Lhogan pushed the PIC harder against her head.

“Okay. Okay.” El unhooked the belt, which fell to the floor.

“Now, turn around. Slowly! Good. Start walking.”

“Where am I going?” El asked, the barrel digging into the back of her head.

“The landing in front of the golem.” Lhogan shoved forward with his PIC.

“No problem, I’m walking,” El said and stepped forward. “You want to tell me what you’re doing though? This because I didn’t offer to pay for dinner?” She needed to buy some time. Get him talking while she figured out a plan. Where was Sol, anyway?

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“Dinner? Having to sit through watching you shove food in your mouth for one whole evening was more than enough, thank you very much. I’d throw myself in the Pyre before enduring that again,” Lhogan said, his voice dripping acid.

El stumbled, but quickly took her next step as the PIC dug into the back of her head.

“Oh, did I hurt your little feelings? Did you actually think I liked you? Sure, bedding you would’ve been a bonus, even if I can barely stomach looking at you, but you’re too burning good for me, aren’t you? Elitist bitch,” he snarled.

El couldn’t even respond as she walked off the catwalk ringing the room, and onto an extension leading out to the golem. Why were there chains there? Electrum chains. Burn it.

“Don’t know why you got chosen for this, but it doesn’t matter. Gets me what I want. On your knees,” he said when the two of them got to the end of the extension.

This close to the golem, heat radiated off the double-forged electrum in waves strong enough to make El want to turn away. But she couldn’t, not with the barrel of the PIC against the back of her head. Instead, she was forced to look at the monster in all its glory. Fingers adorned with claws like swords, skeletal wings, and the head… Lhogan wasn’t lying when he’d said it was disturbing. Completely inhuman, it had wide segmented jaws, large sockets for eyes on the sides of its skull, and long curving horns extending above its head.

Was that the true face of the Pyre?

Even without eyes, its gaze seemed to bore into her. Through her. It weighed her on scales beyond her understanding, but left her shaking and sweating.

“So, what? You were a trap all along? Who do you work for?” she asked to take her mind off the lifeless skull staring down at her. “Why am I special?”

Lhogan laughed. A great guffaw that ground the edges of the barrel into the back of her head.

“You? Special? Oh, don’t get so full of yourself. Full of… you know what, maybe you are special after all. Never seen a pig like you before. But, that’s not the point. You’re not special. You’re just compatible. The tests with the weapons? The first time I brought you down here? They were measuring it all. I didn’t know what they saw in you, but it doesn’t matter now. I win.”

“Win? This was a contest?” El asked.

“Yes, and the prize is power. Congratulations, you’re going to win the war for us and vault me straight to the rank of Cardinal.”

“I thought you didn’t believe,” El said.

“I lied,” Lhogan said plainly. “Now, manacles. On your wrists. Nothing funny. At this point, it doesn’t really matter if you’re alive or dead, but it’s more fun for me if I get to watch the fear in your eyes.”

“How am I going to win the war if you kill me here?” she asked. Need more time. Need a plan.

“You’re the last piece of the puzzle. Of the golem. All it needs is one more Firestorm, one strong enough to be its heart. They told me you might even still exist in there, a little piece of yourself, trapped as your Spark ignites the avatar, a passenger to the Pyre’s will. Who knows, maybe if you give yourself to it willingly, it will let you have some control.

“Ah, who am I kidding?” he asked. “You’re a control freak. You wouldn’t give yourself to anybody. Enjoy eternal slavery.”

“You don’t have to do this,” she said, voice hoarse. Was it true? Were his actions all lies? Was it really Lhogan talking? Or… some kind of influence from the Church? From the Pyre itself?

“You’re right. I don’t have to. I want to. Manacles!” he shouted.

El leaned forward and picked up one of the manacles, glancing up at the monstrous golem in front of her. She didn’t need to be Felps to know what was going to happen.

“Lhogan, you…” El started.

“Enough talking!” Lhogan shouted and put his boot on her back, kicking her forward. “It’s time for our little date to come to an end, and for me to…”

CRAAAAAAAAACK!

The barrel of the PIC didn’t leave the back of her head, but El risked a glance around at the room-shaking sound behind them.

A haze hung in the back of the room, ice crystals glittering in the air, frost crawling across the ground and along the walls, while fractures spider-webbed through the great double doors themselves. An echoing TAP and the entire door shattered like glass, cascading to the floor in hand-sized pieces.

Sol, ice running up his hands to his elbows like gauntlets, stepped over the rubble, and the frost slithered off the floor to encase his feet up to his knees.

“What the Blaze?” Lhogan asked, distracted.

Now or never. El ducked her head out of the line of the PIC, then twisted to the side and flared her wings, launching up and just over the golem.

Lhogan grunted in surprise as the backwash from her wings rolled over him, and stumbled to the railing, one hand reaching out for balance.

El flipped in the air, igniting the four small wings, and hit the ceiling feet first. Her flame armor flared to life immediately to protect her. But protect her from what? The walls! They were starting to glow. To heat up! Hot enough to trigger her flame armor at the slightest touch, and getting hotter by the second.

Need to leave. Now!

El flared her wings again, straight back the way she’d come. Straight at Lhogan, who was only just finding his balance. His eyes widened at her rocketing approach, and instead of raising his weapon at her, he panicked and leapt over the railing. Good enough. El twisted slightly, using her smaller wings to maneuver, and flared again just inches above the landing.

“Don’t fight it,” was all she had time to yell at Sol as she hit him at the waist, wings jetting flame and the room glowing like the sun. If he resisted…

But he didn’t, and the two of them blasted out of the room and down the hall. They’d made it. That should stop the…

Another pair of wings raced past them in the opposite direction, straight into the spherical room as the light flared incandescent.

El didn’t risk looking back, rolling and flaring again as she got to the intersection to bolt down the side hall. No telling what would happen if she got caught in the ignition with the doors gone.

A sizzle and flash turned the world white, swallowing El. Blinded, she hit something, bounced, hit something else, then skidded at breakneck speeds until she cut off her wings. Even then, her momentum carried her to slam into something else, a wall maybe, where she finally stopped, her shoulder wedged uncomfortably and a weight on top of her.

“Sol?” she croaked, her eyes blinking away spots. “You still alive?”

“Yes, thanks to you,” he said.

The weight lifted off El’s chest, and she rolled to ease the torque on her shoulder. Her vision was slowly coming back, and a silhouette stood in front of her, offering a hand.

“Thanks,” she said, taking the hand and letting Sol help her up. “Did you see who passed us?”

As if in answer, a great roar echoed down the tunnels, shaking them like an earthquake. Heat rolled out from the hall leading to the spherical room, warping the air and turning the metal red.

KA-CHUNK, HIIISSSSSSSSSSSS.

A footstep? The golem was awake? Who was the final piece? Was it Lhogan or somebody else?

“HA… HA… HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA (Ha… ha… ha hahahahahahaha),” a laugh like a wildfire echoed. “THIS IS POWER (This is power)!,” the voice crackled.

A duet of voices that, despite the inhuman tone, El recognized.

“Oril,” Sol said, in answer to her earlier question. “It was Oril who passed us.”

But Oril wasn’t in the room alone. And now Oril and Lhogan controlled the most powerful weapon in the history of Pycrin.