“You see, human? It is your own end you chose here.” She turned her eyes toward the colossus. “Tear them apart, guardian. Destroy the filth.”
The sphinx’s simple command flowed over the colossus like a wave. The guardian easily caught up with one of the fleeing humans and closed its massive hand around his throat.
Mortal lives are so frail,someone had told the colossus once.You need only squeeze, and they will be extinguished.
The colossus couldn’t remember who the speaker had been, but squeezing? Yes, that was easy. Enjoyable too, perhaps, in a way that made no sense.
The mortal thrashed and kicked, trying to free himself, to save his ridiculous life. The colossus tightened its grip, and the boneand cartilage instantly gave way. The human’s eyes bulged from his sockets as if he hadn’t quite realized his fate was sealed. A low gurgle left his pasty lips. “Captain…”
But whatever plea the mortal might have wanted to make came too late. The colossus ripped his head right off, then discarded the broken body onto the ground. “Hold the line!” another mortal screamed. His voice cracked with panic as he thrust a heavy iron spear forward. “Bring it down!”
The weapon struck the colossus’s chest and instantly shattered into a shower of useless shards. The physical impact barely registered. The only thing that mattered was cleansing the garden of the foul magic.
The colossus stepped right through the falling iron and reached for the spearman, grabbing the mortal by the face. The man shrieked. He battered his bare hands wildly against the arm holding him aloft. His frantic blows felt like nothing more than falling leaves.
How could something so weak carry such a deep corruption?
The colossus slammed him backward into a basalt pillar. The man’s skull caved in with a wet, heavy crunch, and his body slid down the dark stone, leaving a bright red smear in his wake.
“Gods, it’s not stopping!” a third man wailed.
He swung a heavy sword, putting all his meager strength into the blow. The blade clanged harmlessly against the thickplating. The vibration was merely a buzzing annoyance, like an insect begging to be crushed. The colossus swung its arm in a devastating arc, catching the swordsman and the man beside him simultaneously. The sheer force hurled them both across the terrace. They tumbled limply onto the ground, their chests caved in from the impact.
Only two fighters remained. Weeping openly, they abandoned their weapons to scramble over the broken pillars in a desperate bid to escape.
The colossus pursued them effortlessly. It caught the first fleeing man by the shoulder, tightening its grip until the delicate joint popped under the pressure. The mortal crashed to the ground, blubbering and crawling in absolute terror. He didn’t make it far before the colossus brought its heel down, crushing his skull against the pavement. The final intruder lost his head a moment later, silenced by a single decapitating swipe.
The immediate area fell quiet. The dark taint in the air was rapidly dissipating. But the battle was not yet over.
“You mindless piece of scrap!” An angry shout echoed over the garden. “How dare you?”
A dense blast of purple fire slammed into the colossus’s shoulder. The surface hissed, glowing a furious red as the dark magic was absorbed into the plating. This strike carried a much heavier weight. This was the root of the sickness.
The colossus turned toward its final opponent. The leader of the intruders stood near the fallen sphinx, glaring. This one did not weep, nor did he try to flee. But his face was still pale with fear, and he’d have the same fate in the end.
“You won’t get in my way!” the man yelled, raising his blighted staff. “The sphinx’s power is mine.”
Phix bared her teeth at the necromancer. Despite the creeping decay on her golden fur, she tracked the approaching giant, her dark eyes filled with ancient recognition. “You have unleashed a vessel completely devoid of a leash, human,” she rumbled. “My power was never the one you should have wanted or feared.”
Ignoring the warning, the man unleashed another massive wave of purple flames. The colossus strode directly through the blinding heat. It needed to crush this corruption into dust.
The necromancer’s eyes widened as his magic splashed harmlessly against the metal. He scrambled backward, violently twisting his empty hand in the air.
“Medea!” he screamed. “Destroy it!”
“No! You can’t! You can’t make me!”
The female voice washed over the colossus. It held a power far more fiery than any magic the necromancer commanded. The bronze guardian stopped in its tracks.
“You don’t have a choice, Medea,” the intruder bellowed. “Attack him!”
A chaotic storm of lethal magic swept through the entire garden. It went beyond anything the necromancer had tried to do. Unlike the man’s paltry attempts, this was a light of such power that it couldn’t be controlled.
Instantly, the colossus lost all interest in the necromancer.
Elsewhere. The source of the corruption is elsewhere.
Pivoting away from the purple flames, the colossus located the massive anomaly. Huddled among the ruined asphodels was the woman the man had spoken to.
