Safehaven

Chapter 37

The room fell silent. Only Holly's faint snores could be heard. I rubbed my ears, to make sure I had heard the man right. "A golem?" Sage looked just as confused as I felt. The big mound of dust before us had a name? Nathen silently strode towards the pile and began to sift through it, as if looking for something. When he found nothing of interest, he straightened and brushed the ash off his hands and looked my friends and I in the eyes. "Golems were considered one of the most dangerous creatures to ever be created. Even worse than the Vanishers." The last name sent shivers down my spine. Ever since Badon and Nathen had showed up, I hadn't given our previous terrors a thought. What had happened to them? Did they just return to their master in defeat? No, they always finished the job, no matter how messy it was. Maybe even now, they were stalking the castle walls at night, waiting for just the right moment. I glanced at the broken window to my left. Wind rattled the remaining bits, and random pieces skidded across the floor. "You see," Nathen continued. "A golem is VERY hard to build. It takes monstrous skill and energy. First, the actual eye has to be placed in the forehead of the beast and..." Nathen stopped. Quinton had his hand raised and was jumping up and down like he desperately needed to use the restroom. Nathen gave the boy an odd look, but accepted the question. "Why does the golem need an eye?" The man before us just blinked, like the answer was obvious. "The golem sends pictures back to its master through the eye. Only 2 eyes have ever been made, and only one has been reported seen 5 hundred years ago. Does that settle the rarity of the situation?" Quinton shrank back a little. Looking satisfied, Nathen ventured on. "Next, besides the eye, the creator needs an animated scroll. Now, before you can ask, an animated scroll is a sheet of paper that has the instructions for the golem. The paper is rolled up and inserted into the beast's mouth with extreme caution. As soon as the scroll has entered, the mouth will clamp shut, and the monster is ready for duty. This thing can devour cities, tear up foundations, and block out the sun with one hand." Nathen smiled a little, which sort of freaked me out. "Any more questions?" No one dared to open their mouth. With a sigh, our friend turned back to the used to be golem, and resumed his search. "Normally," He grunted, now on his hands and knees in the ashes. "The eye does not disintegrate with the body, so it should be here. Aha!" Nathen cried, as he leaped up, a strange clay silhouette in his fist. He brandished it before displaying it on his palm. "This is the eye." The thing on Nathen's palm was nothing to be proud of. For one thing, the clay ball was lopsided, and the surface was not smooth. The iris and pupil of the eye was etched sloppily, and ancient runes ringed them. All in all, the entire thing looked like a kindergarten project gone wrong. I just gaped. This hunk of junk right here had almost tried to kill us. I shivered at the thought that somebody was probably looking at us right now though the pupil. But before I could express my concern, Nathen slipped a handkerchief out of his pocket and bound the little orb in the cloth. "I'll keep this in my office for the time being." I was relieved at that. Just then, there was a moan, and Holly came back to the land of the living. As she sat up, her hair fluffed out in all directions. Shards of wood from demolished furnisher hung on to loose ends, and tarnish covered her face and clothes. The girl yawned and rubbed her eyes. Stretching leisurely, she took no notice of the chaos around her. She was situated on the only chair that had survived the attack from the golem. Finally, she cracked open her eyes, and they nearly bugged out of her head. I don't know what scared her more. Either it was that everything in the room had been torn apart by some unknown beast, or the fact that Nathen was here, taking in her morning "charm". Holly squealed, and hid beneath her covers. I smirked, and turned to my other buds. They were trying to conceal grins and smiles too. And, as politely as we could, the 5 of us, not including Holly, escorted Nathen out the door and into the hallway. When the sound of the click, which signaled that the door was firmly in place, Holly threw off her covers and bolted up the stairs and into her room. She probably was changing after her whole ordeal. Rinal, her kitsune, casually hung out by the banister, just waiting for her mistress to return. So, with nothing better to do, the rest of us downstairs decided to at least get rid of all the debris and junk that littered the floor. Antigone swept tiny shards of wood and cotton fluff out the window with her gusts of wind. Quinton had it easy, and was lifting the pieces into fireplace using force fields. As for Sage, Jada, and I, we did our best. Using our hands and whatever we could find, we managed. And by the time Holly and Rinal rejoined us in the gathering area, everything was spick and span. A slight wind came through the broken window, refreshing us all. We all took a deep breath. Even though the day had hardly even started, I knew it was going to be one of those days. But since we were us, there was nothing that could be done. What could I say? My friends and I are what you can call special. And that's how we like it.