The Forgotten King
Page 15
The face plate on the suit of armor was open, exposing an empty hollow as she knocked on its breast-plate. A dull thud, thud, thud revealed nothing except a slight showering of red dust. The bizarre armor was gargantuan, coated in rust, and had six arms, each holding a weapon of some kind: sword, mace, flail, ax, club, and whip. The kind of creature that could have worn such a thing was beyond Sai’s reckoning. It must have belonged to some unholy chimera in ancient days.
A glance at the book case and desk revealed it was covered in dust and had not seen use in some time. It couldn’t be in the treasure chest, could it? She picked the latch with ease, a skill that came naturally to her, and found nothing.
Sai searched the desk, the bookcase, and even glanced down the dark stairwell. Nothing. She tried the locked door to find what lurked behind it. She moved a finger to touch the lock. It sparked when she was less than an inch away.
Sai leaned back instinctively. She teleported faster than she thought possible. A whip of crackling energy swung, trying to grasp her about the waist but caught only air. Sai was gone. Then she was ten feet away, getting her bearings. The suit of armor had come to life! The rust-red golem immediately corrected and reached for her with sword and ax. She dodged, jumping over and ducking under the multiple arms flailing wildly at her. Sai backflipped away, then leapt onto the desk and ported away again just as three of the six weapons slammed down, smashing the desk to kindling.
This golem isn’t a mindless automaton, it’s a deadly spell: a thing born of sorcery itself.
Rushing at her, the spidery knight had flecks of rust flaking from it. Sparks of energy crackled within the armor, the source of its magical animation revealed. Lashing out, it sparked its electrical whip across the interior walls of the tower, blackening the stones. Striking the bookcase, it sent the books flying, pages burning.
The Scarlet Heart jewel must be worth more than Sai imagined for it to warrant this powerful of a guardian . . . but she didn’t want to just port into a room she couldn’t see; she might land herself right into a nest of spikes or a vat of acid. No good porting where I can’t see—doing that could get me killed.
Sai had to at least get a look through the keyhole first.
She ported up to the window ledge. Would the rust knight follow her out? Scuttling along the floor, it came closer, reaching for her.
Sai went back out the window, carefully balancing along the extending tentacle beam. She stepped to the far edge of the beam, more than fifteen feet out into the open air, a hundred feet from the ground below. The rusty golem followed, gripping the window sill and pulling its massive bulk after her.
“Come and get me, brute,” she taunted.
It smashed through the sill, barely fitting out the gap left in the stonework. It pulled free arm by arm, just like a spider coming out a trapdoor. Then it stood, sightless, though it seemed to be readying its vast array of weapons.
Sai was grateful it didn’t have a crossbow.
It stepped closer. Not as awkwardly as she would have liked but slow and easy. Soon enough, its whip could reach her. Another step and its arms upraised, ready to strike with the sword and ax too. She would be vulnerable to all of its devastating attacks at once.
Sai ported behind it and shoved. It was like trying to move a city. It didn’t budge.
“Oh boy.”
Its legs still faced forward, but the entire six-armed body swung around to face her. Red eyes glared in the shadow of the helm.
Sai ported away, just as the multitude of blades slammed down into the wood where she had just stood. This time she put herself up on the sloping roof of the tower. She backed up slowly as the rust golem approached. The whip shot out and stung her exposed kneecap. Sai cried out in pain but gritted her teeth, more determined than ever to triumph. Time to get mean.
She ported onto the thing’s shoulders and battered her twin daggers at its faceplate. These did no damage at all, but did get its attention.
It swung its sword, ax, and mace at her. She ported away, letting the rust knight bash half its head in. She attacked its legs, doing no damage, but ported away as it slammed its weapons after her again, knocking itself off balance. It slowly started to tip. Sai ported back to its shoulder, helping it lean over the brink. Too mindless to catch itself, it brought its ax up to strike her and she was gone again. It finished the job of crushing its own helm and then fell, silent, into the night.
Silent, at least until it hit the ground in a clatter of metal and a billowing of rust. That was loud enough to wake the entire city, Sai thought. She had to be quick.
She bolted back inside and got to work on the locked door. Since there wasn’t a thousand-pound behemoth attacking her, the door came easy now with her lockpicking skills. It swung open on creaking hinges.
A small lamp barely lit the dark room. Sai peered through the darkness and sucked in a shocked breath when her eyes focused.
Hatch, the dogged royal warden of the king, stood before her. He stared at Sai, a lopsided grin on his stubbled face.
“Hello, Sai. We need to talk.”
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank everyone at Ninja Division for allowing me to become part of the Super Dungeon Explore world, and Adam for putting this amazing concept together. Thanks to my editorial team at Future House: Emma, Britny, Matea, Sydnie, and Isabelle for making Treffen’s journey shine. Thanks to my agent Alice Spielburg for slaying King Sprouts on my behalf. As always, thanks to my husband Andrew, and to all our gamer friends.
About the Author
D. W. Vogel is a veterinarian, marathon runner, cancer survivor, SCUBA diver, and current president of Cincinnati Fiction Writers. She is the author of the Horizon Alpha series from Future House Publishing, the fantasy novel Flamewalker, and the writing manual Five Minutes to Success: Master the Craft of Writing. She also has short stories in several anthologies from various publishers.
Wendy loves to hear from readers, so feel free to contact her on her website or on Twitter.
Want D. W. Vogel to come to your school?
What makes a hero? Wendy has visited schools and museums to talk with kids about just that. Using Star Wars as an example, she takes a look at the classic Hero’s Journey in literature. Ideal for grades 3–6, this is a fun introduction into the interpretation of story structure. Through the journey of Luke Skywalker, students will learn about courage and motivation, and the altruism that defines a real hero.
For more information visit: https://www.futurehousepublishing.com/author/d-w-vogel/
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