Run!

The golem whirled to life, its entire body surged with energy. Rothox tossed the jeweled scabbard to Harim who sheathed the sword. The golem stepped forward, its metal knee impacting the pedestal. They turned and ran. A loud crack of stone, followed by the shudder of heavy mechanical footsteps told them the golem had smashed through the pedestal.

Harim, being an agile monk, skipped over the traps. He appeared to fly down the hall, he moved with such grace. Rothox managed to get over the first two but as he looked back to see where the golem was he tripped and fell onto the third. He rolled as fast as he could, narrowly avoiding the giant blade that swung out of the wall. It surely would have severed him in half. He scrambled to his feet as the blade swung back with a whoosh. The golem reached the first pressure plates. It had no regard for them. It stepped forward, the blade released and slammed into the metal body. The golem was not bothered and it pressed forward the now broken trap dangling in the space.

"You've got to be kidding me." Rothox cleared the last two traps as the golem reached the third, the one Rothox had activated. A metal arm reached forward catching the top of the swinging blade. It shoved it aside, snapping the thin bar holding the blade.

Harim was already halfway up the stairs when Rothox got to them. A guard waited at the top of the stairs having been nearby hearing the obvious sound of a large metal golem smashing through the traps. Harim tossed the torch as he saw the shadow of the guard waiting to ambush. The torch landed on the flammable couch, igniting it. The guard went to yell out but Harim was too fast. He grabbed the guards head, slamming his head against the wall, rattling him unconscious. Quickly the room began to catch fire. Instead of making for the stairs up to Erigos and Alissa he sprinted towards a door leading to the back courtyard. Rothox was in hot pursuit and the sound of metal scraping the stone walls told him the golem had made its way to the stairs.

Harim sprinted to the window below their room, grabbed a ball from his pouch and hurled it at the glass. Alissa came to the window. He held up the sword. She looked back saying something to Erigos and a second later she opened the window, tossing down the rope. It was not for them to climb but for her and Erigos to repel down.

"What did you do!" Erigos said as he lept a few feet down off the rope noticing the smoke starting to escape the castle.

"Doesn't matter, we got the sword and we have to go." A loud slam cracked the stone, drawing their attention. Followed by a bell ringing throughout the castle alerting everyone.

"What is that?" Erigos asked, the other two men already making for the nearby tower.

"A golem!" Harim yelled back.

"A what!" He didn't have to wait to find out as a large metal fist punched through the wooden door. The fist pulled back tearing the door off its hinges. Small cracks appeared in the stone around the door. The golem ducked its head through the hole, its red eyes peering at them.

The guard sleeping in the tower was rudely awakened by the alarm bell. He sat up and went to stand but the butt end of a dagger found his temple knocking him back out. He crumpled back into his wooden chair. Rothox hooked his grapple on the lip of the tower doorway and tossed the rope down the otherside. Without testing the weight he jumped with the falling rope. The metal hooks grabbed onto the stone, his weight creating the counter to hold it in place. Alissa and Harim came next. As soon as they reached the bottom they began to sprint. Erigos grabbed the rope and began to descend. The grapple slipped with his added armored weight and he fell a few feet before the metal caught on the edge of the wall. He slammed into the stone.

Alissa heard him slam into the wall "Eri are you ok?" She called up to him.

"Ya.." he groaned. The grapple slipped again as the golem bashed into the thick wall, shaking it loose. He fell the last ten feet, the air knocked out of his lungs as he slammed into the ground. Alissa and Harim ran back to help him up. His ego hurt more than his body. They helped him down the hill into the field as the guards rallied to pursue them. The tall grains shielded them as they ran through the night.

As the smoke grew in the distance the Sect disappeared, the faint sound of banging echoed the farmland, as the golem tried to pursue through the thick castle walls. It wasn't going to stop, focused on one task.

The Sect worked their way back around the estate towards Drealyan searching for a place to set up camp. Harim looked around the sky searching for the cloud. It was gone, the Cloud Monastery had moved on, they were on their own. They were no longer being followed, that they could see. A small grouping of trees offered the best place for them to rest. It also offered them a moment to finally investigate the sword.

Harim passed it to Erigos." Here, I figure you might know the sword best."

Rothox climbed to the top of a tree to keep a lookout.

Erigos took it, "You sure?"

"Of course, let's see what it can do."

Erigos slid the sword from its scabbard, the blue hue offering a little light to the camp. He swung it back and forth. The balance was perfect, he had never held such a well crafted weapon. The design was elven but the carvings were something else. He couldn't read it even still he felt a longing from the sword for power. Erigos allowed some of his divine magic to flow into the blade. The blue hue got brighter as the sword's power grew. Erigos held the sword above his head and a bolt of lightning shot out arching into the sky. He felt a surge of electricity through his body. Metal and electricity crackled, he nearly dropped the blade.

"Woah! I didn't expect that." Erigos lowered the sword and quickly sheathed it, snuffing out the light.

"I'm sure someone saw that." Rothox said from atop the tree. "I'll keep watch, you all get some sleep." He scanned the horizon. The night was calm, a southerly warm breeze blew through the treetops. The stars began to populate the sky surrounding the moon. It had been months since Rothox had taken the time to just stare into the heavens. His thoughts wandered. Rothox had never been this far from Merigrand. He had always wanted to travel the continent, he just never expected it would be to save it.

Lord Cragxan stepped through the charred remains of his seating room. The doorway outside was destroyed by the golem, even the thick curtain wall had sustained some damage before he was able to command the golem out the front gate. It would eventually track down the thieves, and retrieve his family's sword. A flash of blue lightning streaked into the air, briefly igniting the night sky. The Lord noticed it and he knew what it was. Whoever they were, they had just made a powerful enemy.