Katerin was content with her quiet life of studying the arcane, and wanted for nothing in her life. She had friends, family, and plenty to do.
But life has a way of changing people--a way of pushing them to do things far outside their comfort and ex...
They all froze, looking back down the hall. It would be a terrible place to fight if any of those strange stone-like creatures appeared. This room was a large circle, with three doors from it. One to each side, and the one they used to enter.
Fykes cursed loudly, hands dropping to his blades that only rested in their sheathes.
Identify... yourself. There was no change in tone, inflection. No emotion to this voice.
"I don't know how," Katerin said, pleading and holding her hands up peacefully. The thought that trying to appease a room was more difficult than she first imagined pulling at her mind. "But we aren't here to harm anything!"
An all-too-familiar ticking sound began again. Quicker, and with a louder whirring than before, another construct dropped to the floor. But this one was huge. It cracked the floor as it landed, and giant appendages swarmed out and formed around it--four holding it up on spider-like legs, two bearing swords. The eye in the center was wider than Fykes was, and glowing just like first of these metallic creatures had.
*
We should have run, Fykes thought desperately as he pulled his blades free. "Arjiah, move!" he yelled, dragging her aside as a bolt as big as his fist shot forward. The weapons this one used were not something to trifle with, if the others had been any indication.
*
Arjiah stumbled to finish casting, as her breath caught. She thrust both hands forward and two volatile shards of ice flew free, one for each leg. They both struck their targets and exploded, lodging tiny shards of ice in between the armor plates that covered the creature.
*
"Careful!" Katerin yelled to the others as she darted to one side, hoping to split its attention. A giant sword, larger than any man could ever wield, formed on one of the construct's remaining arms. A large blue orb of energy, in the shape of a shield, formed on another of its insect-like appendages. It spun with incredible speed, and the eye turned from blue to blindingly white as it focused on her.
Katerin stayed still, shaking as she tried to incant her spells. Her legs felt heavy and numb, and she cursed. Neither her body nor the spell was working. She was not focused, and fear made bile rise in her throat.
She gave up on the spell and dropped to the floor, just as a beam of energy sizzled above her. The air was burnt away, and she tried to scream but could not make a sound. The beam passed above her, trailing fire down her back and singeing her hair with its sheer proximity. She rolled onto her back, only to scramble away as the sword came arcing toward her. She could barely avoid this monstrosity, let alone attack it.
Its sword slammed into the floor with a loud clang and was back in the air before she could blink.
*
Fykes took quick advantage of its turned attention. Ignoring the knot of worry building in his stomach. "I'm over here!" he screamed at it, driving his sword at its armor again and again. This one was tougher than it's smaller compatriots and he only managed to scratch it with his blows. He circled to one of its many legs that supported its weight.
*
Arjiah grimaced as she watched the fight unfolding and chanted quietly. She created a blade of ice as big as a sword and threw it like a spear towards a joint in the armor plating. It lodged in place and frost began to coat the area, spreading out along its body. The eye finally shifted its relentless attention to the fragile-looking Amerlyian near the door.
The eye began glowing brighter, turning white once again, and she hit the ground in a roll.
She spun and flattened herself against the wall, gasping. She had never been a fan of heat. It went against her blood, and this heat was unlike any other. She felt her skin blister and her scales heat. She slid down the wall into a crouch. The pain and heat stole away her breath, and though the beam of energy had not touched her, it left small blisters across her face and dried her eyes. It felt as though the moisture in the air had been entirely consumed.
*
Katerin came out of her roll and up to her feet once again. Taking heed of the opportunity she had, being so close to the thing, she laid a hand on its armor plating. Electricity buzzed around and through her, then funneled into the construct. A loud humming filled the air, and the lightning buzzed around the construct, brightening its eye. Shit, she thought, fighting to jerk her hand away.
It was as if the creature was pulling the energy from her and feeding itself. Lightning was not going to help her, and the fire did nothing. She heard the whooshing noise of the giant blade as it came for her, and did her best to dodge. The creature was swinging toward itself. She whimpered in pain as she fell onto her injured hand and got as close to the thing as she could.
Its blade clanked against the flooring, unable to hit her.
She backed up and found herself directly in front of its eye. Desperate and panicking, she swung her staff out, across its eye. Her blow cracked some of the thick, glass-like material covering the glow, and the construct staggered back, its metallic legs clanking on the stone.
Fykes snarled and hacked through the leg in front of him with one last blow. As the appendage clanked to the ground, the construct rolled and swung at him. He dodged, but not far enough.
The point of the blade cut diagonally down his chest to his hip. He gasped and changed his stance into one much more defensive, hacking at another leg. He snarled at the fear and the sweat covering him, and ran his thumb along the edge of his blade. A glow effused around him and poured into the blade as his blood trickled down it, and he pushed himself back to his feet once again.
*
Arjiah gasped again and pushed herself back to a standing position. She held her breath and gathered her energy, pulling moisture back into the air and releasing a healing mist across the room, breathing deeply as her lungs found moisture again. The severity of her burns lessened considerably, though terror still coursed through her veins. She breathed in, preparing another spell. Katerin had cracked open its front, so she sent a spike of ice directly to one of the cracks. As it impacted, the construct rolled back, fell over, and shook. The room quaked as it fell, and the building groaned.
*
As it fell back, Fykes hacked another leg free, the joint breaking just like his might have under such stress, with the energy from his now-glowing blade. He had never been more grateful for the enchantments on his blades that kept them sharp and made them unbreakable.
*
Katerin moved back, standing near Fykes' side, and to her dismay, her blow missed. The construct dropped to the floor and used one leg to block the attack. Then the construct turned its attention to the both of them and Katerin realized her mistake. Moving closer to Fykes had just put them both in more danger.
*
Fykes slashed another chunk from the leg and looked towards the giant thing. The eye was not glowing, but something seemed wrong. "Down!" he screamed, dropping his swords, and pulling as hard as he could on Katerin's shoulders.
He caught a glimpse of Arjiah diving out of the room's archway. He landed hard on top of Katerin, feeling her breath as it left her lungs, as a high-pitched whistle sounded and the world turned white.
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