Valerian arrived at the Gefroren border mere minutes after Radley did. That was a good sign; he'd gotten extremely fast with his newfound Libra powers in the last several days, especially since he'd gotten the hang of its potential. It wasn't just blades and clubs a Libra could negate. It could also undo or increase—at least partially—the forces of gravity and friction.
Radley could tell that Valerian had figured that one out quickly. Just two days after the battle, he'd been launching into the air, sliding on the ground like it was ice, and leaping once again into the sky. How he got the leverage to jump again without slipping or tripping was beyond Radley, but he was glad Valerian had figured it out. Now he could keep up; this boded well for future battles.
"I have something for you," Valerian said, tossing a small device to him.
Radley caught it and flipped it open. "Wh- a cell phone?"
Valerian flipped his open. "I bought one for everyone, plus a couple for potential members. We will never lose signal; I got a contract from that Hive Mind order in Jotaris. All of our calls are relayed through an old friend of mind. He'll keep any other Hive Mind members from listening in."
Radley glanced at the phone in his hand, then back up at Valerian. "We're not the richest order out there, Valerian. Where did you get the money for these? You didn't tap into our rent, did you?"
Valerian shook his head. "I killed a small Cerberus pack that was attacking a small town down south. Someone recognized me, and that town's lord gave me a reward. I figured I'd use it."
"Never figured you'd be the one to insist we communicate," Radley joked.
"I didn't do it for myself," Valerian muttered, looking over the rock against which Radley sat. "Now, where is the golem?"
That was why they were a day's superhuman run east. A request had come to their house just after Polina and Erin had left, requresting help from the Lowly Champions against a golem (or talus, depending on where you asked; some people insisted that talus were more rare) that was attacking underprepared border towns, most particularly Bergdorf. That was surprising; golems didn't normally leave Gefroren.
"I don't think it's here right now," Radley said slowly. "Those things are hard to hide. Maybe we should ask around the town?"
The town of Bergdorf wasn't a large one, so Radley didn't figure he'd ask for more than a few meals' worth of reward money for this job, in spite of the scale. While the town's size left it vulnerable, however, Radley was glad for it. Not only was he more comfortable in the country (in spite of his inventive hobbies), it would be easier to find the truth without a wild mass to sort through.
The cousins made their way toward the clinic, which was the closest thing Bergdorf had to a hospital. Nothing too major happened here, and where healers elsewhere had failed, someone here had the ability to prevent disease or illness in a radius of effect. In fact, as he crossed the border into town, Radley felt the slight stuffiness in his nose clear out instantly.
Valerian cleared his throat, wearing a bemused expression. "That is useful."
Their healer is curing illnesses we don't even realize we have, Radley thought. Amazing...!
The cousins arrived at the clinic within two minutes, as the town only consisted of one major road, which held both homes and businesses; sometimes both in the same building. Radley felt his affection for the town growing.
The clinic consisted of one room lined with a dozen beds, six on each side. Three were occupied. A doctor, likely one who hadn't absorbed any monsters' powers, tended to the beds on the right, redoing a woman's splint. Although the man in the bed next to hers seemed to be worse off than a broken leg, he held her hand in his. Probably her husband.
"They can heal naturally here, without worrying about infection," Radley noted aloud. "As long as bone injuries are set beforehand, time heals everything here."
Valerian nodded slowly. "Who should we ask first?"
The young farmhand on the left, who sported a heavily casted leg, raised his hand. "You're the order from Nettin, right? I'll answer your questions; I'm not busy."
Radley glanced at Valerian and gave a slight nod he knew would be taken to mean stand guard. While his cousin stepped out, Radley approached the boy. Though he looked the age for it, the boy didn't sport any acne.
Silently wondering if that was also prevented by the curative field, Radley knelt by the boy's bed and said, "Hello. My cousin and I are here to investigate—and potentially stop—the golem attacks. What's your name?"
"I'm Cirel Finn, Mister Beck," the boy said, looking ecstatic to see him. "I'm fourteen."
Radley nodded. "I suppose you know who I am, then?"
"You're Radley Beck, the Aquarius master," Cirel said excitedly. "I've been a fan of your order for ages. You inspired me to learn how to fight!"
"Learn how to...?" Now Radley was confused. Kind of interesting that he didn't bring up the phoenix. "But... aren't you a farmhand, Cirel?"
The boy scratched his head. "Well, sort of. I help around every now and then, but I work under the craftsman, Mr. Tyrsch. I've gotten pretty good with tools over the last few years."
Smiling at Cirel's enthusiasm, Radley asked, "So, did you see the golem? When it attacked?"
Cirel's smile fell. "Yeah. I did. I was training with Mr. Tyrsch—that's him and his wife over there—when it attacked. It came out of nowhere, hitting Mrs. Tyrsch in her knee. I could hear the crunch across the yard.
"Mr. Tyrsch grabbed his sledgehammer, the one he uses if he needs to get rid of mortar or clear out a bad project. He managed to crack its torso with a good swing, but the golem hit him harder. It got his back and his arm before I got to it. I gave it another crack before it hit me twice, doing this to my leg. Then it left. I want to say I scared it off, but I think it just... got bored. It didn't feel like killing us, but it liked messing people up. Almost like it's trying to make us..."
An uncomfortable silence ensued as the implication settled into their heads.
"Weaker," Radley finished.
"Yeah," Cirel said quietly. "It doesn't fight like any monster I've warded off before, Mr. Beck. It fought like a trained brawler instead of a wild animal, but it could still use its shape to its advantage. It snuck up on us. I've never heard of a golem even trying to do that."
"Well," Radley said, reaching into his jacket pocket, "the good news is, you won't have to be stuck here much longer." He pulled out a string of a dozen crimson vials he'd prepared the other day. He deftly untied one from the string and offered it to Cirel. "Drink this. It'll help."
The doctor took notice and stood up. "Now hold on, I can't have you giving him foreign medicine! He could get sick."
"Don't worry, I've already tested this," Radley said softly as Cirel drank. To emphasize the point, he took a vial and drank it himself. "Comes in handy. Here, give two of these to the Tyrsch patients."
The doctor looked at him skeptically before taking the vials he'd offered. "Who are you, exactly?"
"I'm part of an order west of here, looking into the golem attacks," Radley answered.
Cirel's toes, sticking out of the cast, twitched. He was watching his leg intently. "Uh, Dr. Arzt? My leg doesn't hurt anymore."
Arzt scowled before grabbing a tool and carefully cracking the cast open. Cirel flexed his leg muscles and grinned. Arzt looked up at Radley, who nodded. The doctor bustled over to the other two patients, who were watching curiously. Less than a minute later, they were both stretching their limbs as well.
"I'm afraid to ask, but what did you give them?" Dr. Arzt asked as he handed the empty vials back to Radley, who returned them to the thread in his bag.
Radley grinned. "It's mostly raspberry juice."
"That's what it tasted like," Cirel said, standing up.
Arzt scowled. "Did you kill a Virgo? Grew a healing raspberry bush?"
Radley's grin disappeared. The Virgo Zodiac was incredibly rare, and far more dangerous than people thought. They were just as beautiful as Erin, but they behaved more like a nymph or a siren. They were herbivores, but they took disturbing pleasure in killing those they lured in with their music.
While they had the power to augment plants and calm the distraught, Radley had never felt any urge to let anyone kill them. Their power, in those who didn't reject it, would curse its wielder. Radley didn't know how the curse worked, but ever since a friend in grade school had killed himself after killing a Virgo, he'd been terrified of them.
"No," Radley said firmly. "I avoid those. I killed a phoenix a while ago; each vial contains three of my tears."
The doctor's nose wrinkled. "Creative. I would have preferred caladrius breath, but seeing as this is all we have..."
"I purified it to make sure I didn't hurt anyone," Radley clarified. "I even ran it by Nettin's healers. They certified me to make and use these vials a few weeks ago."
The doctor didn't reply to this. He simply turned away and moved to check on Mr. Tyrsch's leg; Mrs. Tyrsch was already unwrapping her own splint.
"This doesn't make sense," Radley decided. "How did something as big as a golem sneak up on you, and why did it primarily hit your legs? Usually they just let their weight do the talking."
Cirel glanced at him, looking confused. "Wait, did I not mention the other weird part? The golem was—"
The wall blew in with a deafening crash. The impact's cause was revealed to be Valerian, unconscious even as he tumbled across the floor. In the rising dust of the demolished wall, a figure approached, silhouetted against the setting sun."
"All of you, get out through the back door," Radley breathed, stepping between the figure and Valerian. "I'll hold it off."
Although how he and Valerian would get out of this alive was beyond him.