by Tony Corden
Several spells dropped on the creature, but only one had any effect. That was a life spell, and thorns grew up to trip it. Hampered for a moment, the golem was assailed by arrows from the rangers, which did nothing more than knock a few chips from it. Leah used her new shard spell and fired several forearm length stone darts at each of the rangers and mages. The darts formed at the end of her shroud hand, and she aimed them by placing the destination in the image imprinted on her body. She was somewhat surprised to find this gave her exceptional accuracy.
The force of the darts, as they were propelled by the earth mana, drove them through whatever armour the rangers were wearing and through their bodies. Each of the mages had shields which deflected the shards although only one escaped without a scratch. As this had been happening, Leah had used the golem’s sword to free itself. It stepped toward the final two warriors. Again the golem swung the stone broadsword and caught one at shoulder level, removing the head. The last warrior, an elf, dove forward under the sword only to come within range of the golem’s feet and was crushed as over five tonnes of solid granite used the rolling body as a stepping stone to leap toward the three mages.
All three turned to flee but found the ground underneath them had become a viscous fluid and held them tight. Within moments the golem was upon them and killed them with its sword. Leah cancelled all the spells and was both surprised and pleased that the golem kept its shape once the spell ended. She wondered what Thad might think if she kept leaving statues of him scattered across the landscape.
As she walked to harvest the dead, Yürek said, “Y
