Chapter 3

“Help! Help!” the scream sounded from afar. Mulumor and Lucas ran across the field past the flimsy town walls, which were banded together by heaps of rope. The sun had set, thus their vision was limited to what was lit up by the torch held in Lucas’s hand.

“What do you think it is?” the man asked, his breath synchronized with each oncoming step.

The old mage closed his eyes and tuned into the aura flowing through the air.

“We must hurry, I don’t know what it is, but one of the townsmen had already perished and another’s life is fleeting,” Mulumor exclaimed with a wavering breath. “The last one is running toward us.”

“Bandits?”

“I don’t believe so, I can only feel the aura of the three. The one running toward us doesn’t seem to have hostile intentions.”

“Strange,” Lucas furrowed his brow. “Is it wolves then?”

Their questions were soon answered when a frightened young man came into view. Upon sighting the two that came to his rescue, the young man cried and pleaded for his life as he frantically ran for salvation.

“Please help me! They’re-GAH…”

“Wha?!” shouted the old mage.

Lucas watched in silence as the young man before him was skewered through the chest by a long and menacing metal spike. While dangling in the air, the desperate man reached out to Lucas, only to be tossed aside without pity.

Mulumor tightly gripped his staff and readied himself in a battle stance.

“W-What is that?!” stuttered the man. “I have never seen anything like it!”

“A golem perhaps, may be a product of runic alteration.”

“Runes? You mean the Republic? What are they doing here?! Does that mean our forces have been defeated?” A chill went down Lucas’s spine. He had seen the large army during their march and knew of their prowess. If the Kingdom’s knights were defeated, then their isolated village stood no chance. “What should we do?!”

“Calm down! We must notify the town and evacuate its citizens.” Mulumor muttered a series of chants under his breath, his body then glowed a translucent white. The old mage aimed his staff toward the strange golem and prepared a different chant. As their assailant charged toward them, a bolt of white mist shot from his staff and struct the golem, encasing it in a shell of ice. The golem tipped over and made several rolls before it came to a complete halt.

“D-Did you kill it?” Lucas’s hand was still tightly wrapped around his sword, ready to strike if necessary.

“No, I just froze it. It should take a while before it breaks free.”

Crack. The ice casing that wrapped around the strange golem began to fragment.

“I-Is it breaking free?!”

“We must leave, now!” the old man commanded.

Lucas nodded and followed his brother. The two ran. They could hear the stomps of heavy steps tracing closely behind them.

“Did it free itself?”

Mulumor closed his eyes and channeled his focus as his legs took great strides across the grass.

“No, there are more.” He then scratched his beard. “Strange, I don’t feel any magic from them. They lack any trace of entrapped magic that follows a rune’s presence…”

“Then, what are they?!”

“Machines…?” The old man then shook his head. “No… that’s impossible. Machines cannot move on their own.”

“Might someone be inside?”

“No, I did not feel the presence of any living being. And to wear a suit that heavy? Not possible for the common man.”

Before their discussion could conclude, the two had arrived at the city walls. After rushing past the wooden gate, Lucas ordered the gate’s watchman to ring the town’s bell. The watchman nodded and ran toward the town’s center. Lucas and Mulumor followed, hastily making their way to Delphia and the children.

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!

“Delphia, open the door!” Lucas shouted. “Open the door!”

“Wh-What? What happened?” The woman’s voice trembled. Immediately after the door was unlocked, the man barged in and embraced his wife.

“W-What’s happened, Lucas?!”

The man released his spouse from his grip and stared straight into her eyes.

“We are under attack and must leave, NOW!”

Delphia had never seen her husband in such a panic before, she quickly nodded and ran to the children’s room.

BONG… BONG… BONG… BONG…!

When the town’s bell reverberated its loud and melodic ring, the windows of the homes lit up one by one. The town’s residences poked their heads out of their dwellings in confusion.

“RUN! HEAD TOWARD THE WESTERN GATE!” screamed Mulumor. “THERE IS NO TIME, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!”

Many who heard the call stared at the old mage in a questioning gaze. Only until the screams of fresh victims were heard did the townspeople begin to act.

“Honey, what’s going on?! Who’s attacking us?!” The woman’s voice held a similar terror seen on her face. She held her equally terrified daughter by the hand and carried her yawning son on the other arm.

“Run toward the eastern gate! We have to get away from this town-”

CRASH!

Before he could finish, one of the strange machines rammed through the town wall without any resistance. Since Strosten was a distance away from the border, it was never meant to defend against any actual threats, thus its gates and walls were only able to deter animals.

“We need to go, now!” As Lucas shouted, even more of the strange golems bursted through town’s wall.

Strosten was now in complete chaos, screaming citizens frantically ran away from their relentless attackers. The unlucky ones were skewered without mercy while others ran for their lives. From the corner of Lucas’s eye, he witnessed a woman who had fallen, crawling away from a metallic beast that rushed toward her. Disturbed by the loud noise, her baby whined and whimpered on her back, unleashing a series of pained wails. Mere seconds passed before the cries were abruptly trampled by the heels of the metallic beast.

“Lucas! Get your bearings!” the old mage shouted. “Take your family and get out of here. I’ll try to hold them back while others evacuate.”

“What?” The man snapped from his trance. “You should be running with us! Your ice magic can only slow them down!”

“You think too little of me, my dear brother.” Mulumor quickly muttered a chant and froze the golem that was speedily approaching. “Now go!”

Lucas gritted his teeth. He glanced at the desolation around him and felt that he needed to do something, then his eyes met his family. His wife, Delphia, despite trying her best to remain calm, could not hide the fear that threatened to consume her. Left and right, the town’s inhabitants were massacred. His neighbors, friends, and acquaintances, all slaughtered to a predator that knew no mercy.

“Alright, we’ll be heading to the nearest outpost, go there once you’ve escaped.” Lucas placed his hand on his older brother’s shoulder, “Godspeed.”

“Godspeed, now go!”

Lucas picked up his daughter and ran toward the escape with his wife. Mulumor, having charged his staff with a spell, followed them and ensured that nothing threatened his family. Once they reached the western gate, the man waved one last goodbye before running off.

With his brother and his family out of the battleground, a large burden had been lifted from Mulumor’s shoulders.

“Focus!” he muttered to himself, for the situation deteriorated fast. The previously frozen golem had already broken free from its containment. As it attempted to station itself back on its feet, Mulumor blasted it with another spell, encasing it in ice once again. He then turned his attention to the others. Each of the metallic beasts paid no heed to each other. They hunted independently, but somehow, their movements seemed so coordinated. No two machines went after the same target, almost as if they were communicating telepathically.

“Could they be someone’s summons? I’ve never seen these familiars before.” The old mage shook his head. “No, no. Now’s not the time to be intrigued.”

Mulumor raised his staff in the air and channeled the surrounding magic into the orb imbued into the tip of the carved wood.

“A battle of summons? I, too, can play that game.” He slammed the bottom of the staff against the ground, releasing a loud blast. Three streaks of winter-white mist spewed outward in different directions. Almost simultaneously, the three bulbs of glowing dew erupted into three separate large clouds. When they cleared, large, jagged clumps of translucent ice revealed themselves and charged at the rampaging golems.

The first of the ice familiars dashed toward its nearest opponent. The metallic beast had cornered an old couple and was preparing to skewer them both when it was suddenly rammed into the wall. The building collapsed on top of both the golem and the ice summon, allowing the elderly couple to escape. Underneath the rubble, the crushed golem attempted to break free, but each struggle was met with the pounding fist of the familiar. Eventually, the golem’s armor succumbed to the pressure and cracked. Each additional punch pulverized its delicate insides until it ceased to move. The ice familiar brushed off the rubble before moving on to the next opponent.

On the other side of the town, the other two summons were also engaged in fierce battles. The metallic golems rapidly pierced its vicious spikes into the icy bodies of the familiars. With each strike, a hole was formed but quickly mended. The familiars striked back with equal fervor, pushing the metal golems back upon contact. When the golem regained its footing, it leaped toward the ice summon in an attempt to pierce it from above, only to be met with a glacial uppercut.

As all three familiars engaged in combat, Mulumor was left to face two of the intruders alone. Usually, the summoner would reserve one of its summons for self-defense, but the old mage saw no reason for such a thing. Among the two golems that Mulumor faced, one was still frozen from before. The other one charged at him but quickly slowed down as its feet were trapped in rock-like ice. The golem tried to break free from its encasement to no avail.

Strosten was nearly completely evacuated, and only a few stragglers were still making their way to the eastern gate. With his staff aimed toward the struggling golem, Mulumor chanted another spell. A two-foot-long spike of ice then jetted from the glass orb and shot straight toward the rooted golem. It pierced the outer armor with ease, imbuing itself to the creature’s form.

“My, I should have tried this earlier,” the old mage lamented. “I cannot believe that my own brother would doubt my abilities. What has become of the Battle Sages’ reputation?”

While Mulumor mumbled to himself, the remaining golem had thawed itself enough to move. Slowly, it lifted itself from the ground.

“Stay down!” Another spike of ice shot itself out of the old mage’s staff and impaled the metallic creature. Its limbs jolted before it fell back onto the ground. “The likes of you have done enough damage.” He looked around at the remains of what used to be his hometown. Corpses were scattered left and right and the buildings that once housed Strosten’s residences were reduced to rubble. The old mage sighed. “Such senseless slaughter, meaningless destruction.”

As Mulumor was about to leave, faint steps shook the ground. It began from afar but speedily approached until the minute strides became loud stomps that created momentary earthquakes. The crashing of trees, accompanied by the panicked flee of birds, signaling that something large drew near. Veiled by darkness, Mulumor could not be sure of what it was, since he felt neither signs of life nor magic.

“Desterrar la foscor!” he chanted and a bright orb of shining light materialized from his staff and floated gently up into the air.

“What in the divines…?”

In front of him was a giant, a titan that stretched beyond what his orb of light could expose. The mere kick of its feet shattered decades-old trees and crumbled homes. One of the old mage’s summons attempted to challenge the giant, but the ice familiar’s punches could not even dent the Titan's surface before it was crushed under the sole of its feet.

The colossus roared in a language never before heard by Mulumor before it aimed one of its massive barrels at the mage. The old man immediately raised a wall of ice in front of him.

BOOM!

A thunderous crackle emanated from the giant’s cannon. The projectile seared through the ice wall, creating a perfectly circular hole that went from one end of the obstacle to the other. It then exploded into an intense blast of heat and flame, shattering all that surrounded it into oblivion. The remaining two summons collapsed into lifeless piles of ice as they quickly began to melt. And Mulumor? Not even a drop of blood remained.