Dust to Dust: Man 11

Primer

The gray sky was losing whatever scant amount of light it had as a harsh winter night fast approached. Around a greasy pan fire sat the impromptu party, full on their meal of choice. Steamed hares and herb tea for the humans, an unlucky doe for the she-wolf, and Pile was siphoning energy from the fire to heat and mend his core.

“I didn't want to waste time while cooking but now I've got to ask, why the shit fire?” questioned Travis as he threw an annoyed look at the golem.

I should repair my vocal cords.

Pile spidery construction body reached down with a larger crane appendage and pulled the torso of his humanoid form onto the sled's flat working surface. The sharp screeching of metal was something the golem felt more than heard in his current form. The others in the group weren't as lucky when the piercing shriek shattered the calm atmosphere.

Bryn shot up from where she was reclining against a tree and shouted “HEY! Don't try anything with that, I told you the rules and if you try anything funny-”

Pile used a smaller, dainty arm to point towards the throat of his anthropoid body. A small box was there, although it had a tear through it with blackened edges. The dainty arm made motions from the box towards the metallic mouth, causing the realization to dawn on the humans' faces.

“Ah, well after seeing how quickly you put together this cookware, hopefully that doesn't take too long,” remarked an apologetic Bryn as she sat back down and once again bundled up in furs. “Anyways Travis, we won't know for sure unless this heap of scrap decides to talk about it, but his Concept isn't fire or heat.”

An unfamiliar term vibrated its way into the golem's ear, causing him to pay more attention to the conversation than to his current task of repairing his vocal cords.

Travis perked his head up from where it rested on the she-wolf's back. “But the way he fought in camp, with the glass... He took a bath in a furnace made of blast golems and used it to power up. I'm no mage, but you tell me that his Concept isn't fire or heat and I'll question your credentials.”

Bryn sighed in frustration. “Well obviously it has something to do with heat, or that metal frame of his would be a Pile of slag at this point. But it isn't anything that could affect this flame here. I would've seen some reaction, at the very least. Personal magic isn't something you can shut off so easily.”

Scrunching up his face in confusion, the ranger responded “Couldn't he just... not use magic? I see mages all the time and they aren't constantly shooting off sparks.”

“Mages always have an impact on their Concept around them. You should know this, I used to tutor you on the basics when we... when we were better friends. Magic is simply the way you bridge the gap between reality,” Bryn explained as she gestured towards the snow, “and what we desire.” The explanation was punctuated with a flourish of her hands as a miniature castle made of ice rose from the wintry powder. “What's in between, that's what we call magic.”

“That was decidedly unhelpful,” remarked Travis. "If you don't know what magic actually is or how it works, just say so.”

“If we knew what magic was,” derided Bryn,” then we wouldn't call it magic.”

“You're a cold woman,” quipped the ranger, earning a snort and rolled eyes from the mage. “How did you find out that your Concept was Ice, anyways?”

“My Concept isn't Ice, idiot, and someday you'll remember that. Controlling ice and ice alone isn't very useful in climates where it isn't present. At first I thought my Concept was Water because it's what I used as my freezing medium, but eventually I realized it was just general Freezing. After I had done enough research, my Status simply-” Bryn's face went white as the snow surrounding her as she covered her mouth.

Travis' expression fell into a gloomy sneer as he was reminded of his position. “Yea, I'm sure it was real fucking helpful. Not that we'd know, right?” The ranger was standing now, gesturing at his canine companion and the quietly working golem. “Just a bunch of-” he spat out the next worth with venom in his tone “NPCs here to liven up your day.”

“I didn't- you know I don't think that way! Travis I've never though of you like-” sputtered a mortified Bryn.

The ranger held up his hand, interrupting her. “I think it's time for some shut-eye. We're going to go curl up somewhere, this cold is nothing new to us.” With those parting words, he strode off, the she-wolf following close behind after giving the mage a blood-curling snarl.

Bryn stared into the sooty flames, trying to hypnotize away her guilt. A particularly long tongue of fire licked far above the oil in the pan, breaking her concentration. Reluctantly, she turned away from the fire and began forming a hump of snow on the ground. After a large sheet of snow was lifted and a bracing layer of ice applied, a perfect igloo was formed. The walking bundle of furs trudged its way towards the entrance, but turned around just before entering.

“See you in the morning, golem,” was her parting phrase as a wave of freezing crashed over Pile.

As his consciousness slowed and the heat was sucked from his silver veins and core, Pile only had time to admire the completed repairs on his vocal cords for a few seconds before darkness took him.