Death's Sword Book 1: Finding and Seeking

Chapter 3, part 2: Day 5

Another two hours passed before Westizal finished his reading. He pushed himself upright, holding onto the desk for support. Staren watched the wizard sway, then recover his balance.Not a good sign, thought the kynstar. He wondered what the dra'an had in mind for them if they were captured. He hoped he wouldn't find out. The amphibians had a depressing tendency to be messy and bloody-handed in such matters.

Westizal succeeded in tracking down the librarian who understood finger-speech. "Go tell the dra'an on the far side of the plaza that my companion and I are leaving now. We have caused no damage and wish only to leave Dra'alt in peace, harming no-one." The librarian made a strange gesture in reply and croaked several ugly, guttural sounds before turning and moving off with the ponderous gait of its race. "What did it say?" Westizal asked Staren. The kynstar shrugged, a human gesture he had picked up from long association with his friends, "I don't know. I'm saving myself for when we get outside."

The two companions went down to the entrance hall and peered cautiously outside. The plaza was now totally empty, silent, with no sign of life anywhere. "I wonder what would happen if I tried to rest up here?" considered the wizard.

"They'd probably find ways of keeping you awake," replied Staren, not taking his eyes off the plaza. "True. Alright, they should have received my message by now, let's be on our way. Keep that sword sheathed unless something happens!" said Westizal, sharply, as the lizard-man moved to draw his sword. The wizard stepped out first, closely followed by Staren, and made his way onto the plaza. There were three exits they could take. One led directly away from their inn and further into the city. A second led past the large building where Staren had earlier detected the gathering of dra'an. The third led to their inn and thence to the docks. This was the path Westizal headed for, ignoring the canals that also offered themselves. He distrusted those canals, highways for the amphibians. 

They were half-way to the street when there was a rustle of movement, a clink of battle-harness, all about them. The two companions looked around. Fifty or sixty dra'an archers lined the roofs of the buildings surrounding the open plaza. Even as they watched, a squad of spear-armed amphibians clattered to a halt before the library, barring their retreat. A heavy metallic scraping sound caused them to turn again. A huge, armoured figure was slowly stalking into the plaza from their chosen exit. It was over three metres tall, humanoid, and carried a massive broadsword in its right fist. Tendrils of green smoke trickled from its nostrils. "A golem. An iron golem," whispered Westizal, staring at the thing. Staren's tongue flickered out between his teeth for a moment. "May I draw my sword now?" he asked, sarcasm tingeing his voice. Westizal merely nodded, eyes fixed on the slowly advancing figure. He could already feel the earth shake with each foot-fall of the behemoth. The canals gaped invitingly, apparently unguarded. Westizal was not seduced by this. He took in a deep breath, let it out again in a heavy sigh, swallowed and muttered, "Ah, well, I was saving you for something special." His right hand gripped the old, pitted metal ring on his left index finger and gave it a twist. 

Carefully, slowly, Staren drew his sword and moved to stand to the right of the wizard. The golem took another ponderous step. There was a loud, harsh croak from their left. Fifty bows were bent, fifty arrows loosed. Fifty deadly shafts arced towards them. The kynstar span a telekinetic web around himself and span it into the air. The arrows glanced off apparently empty air and rained down onto the plaza, well clear of the two companions.

With a sound like a clash of cymbals, a ball of orange fire sprang up before Westizal. A voice rang in the wizard's skull, "I answer your summons, oh master!" it snarled, "Do you finally require my act of service?" Westizal knew the srchzak could sense how tired and weak he was. This was dangerous, but so was the golem. "Yes, Rpchek, this time you will win your freedom. I require you to destroy that golem," Westizal pointed at the metal monster, now a bare twenty metres away. With a yell of triumph that chilled the spirit of all that heard it, the srchzak leapt at the golem. It struck with a hollow clang, sped clear. The golem clawed at it with its free hand, then swung a mighty blow with the sword. It handled the massive weapon as though it weighed no more than a feather. The flame spiralled away, then shot in again. Another hit. The golem snorted loudly, noxious clouds of green vapour jetting from its nostrils. The srchzak was unaffected. The fight continued.