*Date: 33,480 Third Quarter — Parthanon*
"OPEN UP!"
Demir's fist hammered against Tartarus's door. The morning sun was barely above the horizon, but he was already in full armor, ready for a fight.
Behind him stood his army. Marco with his sword drawn. Marven with a determined expression. Turbo's gang spread out, blocking any escape routes. Kirious, somehow sober, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed.
And Aris.
Aris stood at Demir's shoulder, his eyes burning with barely contained fury. The hollowness from last night was gone, replaced by something sharper. Something dangerous.
"I SAID OPEN UP!"
The door cracked open. A woman's face appeared. Halfling. Young. Vorn's features visible in her eyes and nose.
"What the hell?" She looked at the assembled group with alarm. "Who are you? What do you want?"
"Where are they?" Demir demanded. "Tatmana and Yumi. Where are they?"
"I don't know. I'm just taking care of the animals."
Aris pushed past Demir. "Where is Vorn? He said he works here."
The woman's expression shifted. A knowing smile crossed her face. "My brother went on another expedition to Orcland. He hit quite the jackpot last month."
"You mean the fox?" Aris's voice was ice. "Where is it?"
"Who the hell do you think you are, ordering me about..."
But Aris was already moving. He pushed past her, entering the building with magic crackling around his fingers.
"Hey! You can't just—"
Demir followed, and the rest poured in behind him.
---
Tartarus was larger than it looked from outside.
The front was a respectable shop. Display cases with exotic pets. Cages with colorful birds. Aquariums with strange fish.
But the back was something else.
Rows of enclosures stretched into darkness. Large animals. Dangerous animals. The kind of creatures that weren't meant to be kept in cages.
Aris moved through them like a man possessed. "Fox! FOX!" His voice echoed off the stone walls.
Demir was searching too. "Asena! ASENA!" He checked every enclosure, every cage, every shadow.
Nothing. The fox wasn't there. Neither was his wolf.
"Where are they?" Marco demanded. He had corralled Vorn's sister and the other workers against a wall. "The black fox and the giant wolf. Where?"
"I told you." The woman's smile was infuriating. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Bullshit." Turbo stepped forward, his massive frame blocking the light. "My friends here might be prosecuted harshly if they hurt a local. But I'm not. And I'm getting very upset."
"Now the fox is yours?" The woman smirked.
"Yeah." Turbo glanced at Aris. "He was bringing my fox. I bought it from the Chalice region. Right, Aris?"
Aris nodded, his eyes still burning.
"I'm not going to bow down to your little scenario." The woman crossed her arms. "Go to the officials. Go to the guards. I don't care. I just take care of animals."
Marco had been moving through the back. Now his voice called out. "Hey! Why are these cages all open?"
Everyone turned.
The rear enclosures were empty. Doors hanging ajar. Food bowls untouched.
"You idiots!" The woman's composure cracked. "Those were supposed to stay—"
Animals began emerging from the shadows. A dire wolf. A pair of scaled lizards. Something that looked like a small dragon.
Chaos erupted.
Workers scrambled to contain the creatures. Turbo grabbed the woman and slammed her against the wall.
"Look," he said, his voice deadly calm, "you might not know me, but I'm getting tired. Tell me where your employers are, and we'll be gone. Your friends and family don't need to suffer for their crimes."
She glared at him with rage and disgust. Then her shoulders slumped.
"Fine. They're in the sewers. Good luck finding them." She spat on the ground.
"Sewers?" Turbo made a face.
"Velori." Marven's voice cut through the noise.
"Oh shit." Marco's face went pale.
Demir's blood ran cold. He knew what this meant. The golem. Thurmin. The gold and silver that Velori had been feeding him for years.
"Follow me." He started running.
"What's going on?" Aris called after him.
"They're after the golem. I think."
"What?"
But Demir was already out the door. Aris followed, and the rest fell in behind them.
---
The sewer entrance was hidden behind a smithy in the merchant district.
Demir led them down slippery stone steps into darkness. The smell hit first. Waste and decay and something else. Something metallic.
"Aris, can you make light?"
A golden orb flickered to life above Aris's palm. It illuminated damp walls covered in moss. A narrow tunnel stretching into blackness.
"When we followed our old workshop owner here," Demir explained as they moved, "she came to this place."
"Why did you follow her?"
"She was rich when her husband was alive. Good rent coming in. But she always looked like she was starving. So Marven followed her."
"And?"
"She was giving every penny to her husband." Marco's voice echoed off the walls. "Or what was left of him."
"Didn't Demir say he was dead?"
"Apparently he was seeking treasure down here. Old game treasure. He found it with his golem, but a loose cable killed them both. Turned them into a metal golem, tethered to..."
A roar split the darkness.
Then screams. Shouts. The unmistakable sound of magic being unleashed.
They ran.
---
The tunnel opened into a massive chamber.
In its center stood a golem. A giant of gold and silver, easily fifteen feet tall. Its body was humanoid but wrong. Metal plates fused with something organic. Wires trailing like veins. And at its heart, visible through gaps in the metal, something that pulsed and throbbed.
Velori lay crumpled behind it, unconscious or dead.
And attacking the golem were Tatmana and Yumi.
Tatmana stood with her hands raised, magical energy streaming from her fingers. She was controlling something. Forcing it to fight.
Asena.
Demir's wolf was throwing herself at the golem, teeth snapping, claws raking. But she moved wrong. Jerky. Unnatural. Like a puppet on strings.
Yumi was chanting. Gathering power. A massive spell building between his hands.
"NOOO!" the golem roared. "LEAVE US ALONE!" It swung at Asena, trying to protect itself, but the wolf dodged and attacked again.
"What the hell is going on here?" Demir shouted.
Tatmana spun. Her face twisted with annoyance. "You! You were the only one missing!"
"Ugh!" Yumi hissed. His spell continued to build, energy crackling around his fingers.
Then something small and dark darted from the shadows.
It leaped at Aris, landing in his arms.
"Aris!" The fox's voice was raw. "Thank the creator you're alive!"
Aris clutched his friend. The fox's left side was battered and bruised. His chin was scarred where a muzzle had been forced on him. But he was alive.
"Fox." Aris was panting. "You're alive too."
"Yeah." The fox managed a weak smile. "Idiots tried to sell me for a million, claiming I was a legendary pet." He snorted. "No one bought, of course."
Demir stepped forward, his hand on his sword. "Let go of Asena. Now. Or I attack."
Tatmana sneered. "Shut it, third-degree knight. We're about to be rich. Just wait. The wolf needs to stall while Yumi blasts the damn thing."
The golem swung again. Its fist hit the ground, sending debris flying. "NOOO! LEAVE US ALONE!"
"Us?" Marven pushed forward. She pointed past the golem. "Oh no. Demir, look."
Behind the golem, partially hidden by its massive form, Velori lay motionless on the stone floor.
Demir's heart dropped. "There's an old woman behind the golem! Stop!"
Tatmana hissed. "She's probably dead already. If I let go of the wolf, the golem kills us all!"
Demir turned to his friends. "Aris, Marven, get back. Marco, do you have my shield?"
Marco threw it. Demir caught the dragon-scaled metal and strapped it to his arm.
"What are you doing?" Aris grabbed his shoulder.
"Sorry, Aris." Demir met his eyes. "That old lady is kind of my friend. She helped us when we were looking for work. I need to..."
He saw understanding dawn in Aris's eyes. A tiny nod.
Demir raised his shield and charged.
He ran past Yumi and Tatmana, past Asena, past the golem's grasping hands. He ducked behind the creature's massive leg and dove, covering Velori's body with his own, shield raised toward Yumi.
"COVER!" Yumi shouted.
The spell released.
---
The explosion shook the underground.
Debris flew like bullets. Stone fragments. Metal shards. Bits of the golem torn free by the blast.
They hammered against Demir's shield. The impacts drove him down, pressed him against Velori's unconscious form. Pain shot through his arm, his shoulder, his back.
But he held.
When the shaking stopped, when the dust began to settle, Demir raised his head.
The golem was gone.
In its place was a fleshy, metallic blob. Dog-sized. Still pulsing with that strange inner light.
Scattered around it were pieces of gold and silver. The treasure Thurmin had been hoarding for years.
Demir stood, raising his shield toward the celebrating Tatmana and Yumi.
"You will pay for this."