Making the golem wasunpleasant, and I could understand why Elias said it wasn’t of the light. It felt off to create such a creature, but since I wasn’t using my powers as a wizard, it wasn’t like I was doing dark magic.
Golems themselves were benign. Made of the earth, in most ways, they weren’t much different from humans. I think the neutral energy required to create it was the only thing that saved me from doing the dark’s bidding.
I collected the clay just as the day broke. I knew instinctively where to find it. Luckily, a store just around the corner from where I lived stocked it. I wouldn’t have to dig this particular clay up from the ground.
As soon as the sun set, I began to form the man. Feet first, then the mouth and head. I slipped in the parchment required for the act. Luckily, Elias had stored a few sheets in one of the drawers in the attic for a spell such as this one.
I wrote the appropriate message, then slipped it into the mouth, chanting the words necessary to activate the spell. I waited to see if my powers rebelled, and when they didn’t, I left the golem lying on my dining table and went into the backyard. There had been three people buried here. Long ago, before the houses had been built. Luckily, none of them were the spirits that occupied the house, but when I’d searched internally for a graveyard near me, I’d felt the graves. Luckily, that’s all I could say because the spell required a good chunk of graveyard dirt that sat above the long-decayed corpses beneath.
I rushed back into the dining room and spread the grave dirt around the golem, something I knew instinctively to do.
I applied Owen’s hair to the head and wrote the words to animate it. “You will become a proxy for Owen Lloyd, you will have his memories, you will be like him and will not know that you aren’t. You will serve until Owen is safe and the darkness threatening him is dispelled.”
I cut my palm and let the blood drip into the golem’s mouth and onto the parchment. I felt dizzy but knew that was part of it. I was putting my DNA, my life force, into the being. Luckily, it was not enough to be afraid but certainly enough to be reticent. The golem would be a powerful tool, but one that could do damage as well.
Before the golem was animated, I placed an X over its heart. “With harm to none, so I will it be. With good and light, you will provideservice for me!”
I placed my still bloodied hand over its forehead, then said, “Wake, golem. Wake and take your form.”
The clay figure didn’t move at first, but then I saw it twitch. Its eyes opened first and slowly transformed from clay to the eyes I recognized as Owen’s.
The rest of him formed, one feature after another, until it appeared my beloved Owen was lying on the table. “Are you aware?” I asked, and he nodded. “And do you know your mission?”
“I’m a proxy for Owen Lloyd. I’m to protect him if I can.”
“You are ready,” I said, then stood back. I wrapped my hand, knowing I couldn’t use my powers to heal myself, although I knew intuitively that would happen before morning anyway. I sat with the golem and questioned him, and when morning finally broke, I was confident the golem was enough of a stand-in for me to get my friends back.
I called Cary and told him to meet us at the café we’d met at before. Might as well do what we could to expose this golem and see if he was up to the task. If he couldn’t fool Cary, he wouldn’t fool the vipers either.
When Cary saw Owen, he gasped. “You’re back? Owen, what’s going on?”
The golem sighed and, just like Owen would’ve done, flopped down into his seat. “I… Cary, it’s all too much.”
Cary reached over and took Owen’s hand. “I’m glad I didn’t submit that letter of resignation. Can you come back to the office today? I know the partners are worried about you.”
The golem chewed on his lip for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, I can come in.”
I watched Cary, and when the two of them left, the wave of relief that washed over me was almost indescribable. Maybe now, provided they didn’t get wind of where Owen actually was, I’d have time to do all I needed to do.
I walked into Molly’s apartment and sent magic into the few remaining connections between the vipers and this space.“So, you’ve changed your mind?”the disembodied voice asked.
“Who do you want? I need specifics.”
“You know who we want and why. If you don’t, then you are a piss-poor wizard.”
Images came to my mind, a man who’d dated Shadow a few months ago. He was short and a little pudgy, not who you’d expect someone like Shadow to date. Now I knew who was behind the disembodied voice from before, that would help me in the future.
“There are conditions if you want to trade.”
The man laughed.“I don’t think you have the power to negotiate.”
“I have the light source. You have a couple of wannabe witches. I think I’m the one with the power here.”
That shut the idiot up. I just hoped he didn’t have more than two people.
“I’m restricting how much energy you can pull from the light source. He has to choose to go with you too. It can’t be me giving him to you. I will allow him to be taken, allow himto make the choice, but if I don’t see my friends released, I will blow you and your little club to ashes, and you know I can do that, do you not, viper?” I asked and spread the name of the gang out like it was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever said.
He was silent, and I got the feeling he was talking to someone. “Shadow will not come with you. She is committed to me, but your friend, Molly, will be released as soon as the light source is taken.”
