Chapter 45

Day 144:

Following the talisman’s blinking direction, John retreated back towards the initial intersection. The goblin leader, with a section of grim faced guards at his back, followed him as far as the outer barricade. There the two remaining sentries sat slumped, napping next to the half-consumed corpse of their fellow goblin. The leader lit into the two shirkers, waking them up with his fists. None of the other goblins showed any friendly sign, staring stonily at him when he waved his farewell.

Predictably, the middle tunnel was his next path.

His next foe was in a room divided by a deep trench. The pit’s bottom was covered in dark obsidian spikes, with multiple skeletons decomposing among them. Another golem, this one headless and larger than any he’d seen so far stood on the other side. It had a crisscross with chains wrapped around its torso, trailing down into a pile at its feet, coiled around a skull-shaped, head-sized metal weight. From the way the talisman blinked slowly, this wasn’t his target, just another obstacle in his way.

As soon as John walked into the room, the golem gathered the excess links into its hands and began twirling the weight in a circle. As the rotation sped up, it gradually let out some length until it was holding a humming ten-foot circle above. In addition, the golem’s interior red glow was matched by one that bloomed inside the skull at the chain’s end. The red burning eyes and mouth drew lines across his retinas as it flew through the air.

John was still trying to figure out how he could get across the trench to actually fight the thing when it made a move of its own. Spinning in place, the golem let go of the chain. The burning skull-weight opened its jaw wide as it flew face-first right at John’s head.

He barely dodged to the side. As it passed, the head rotated in place to keep its eyes pointed at him and the fanged teeth clamped shut threateningly.

Grab it! The Tooth suggested.

But it was too late. The golem spun again, pulling the chain back with a metallic snap. Its rotation continued, smoothly returning to a twirling state.

Hook me around it and pull! The Tooth demanded. With my father’s strength, you can topple it.

John readied himself, holding the Tooth with one hand and keeping the other empty. When he didn’t move for several moments, the fire-glowing orb shot out at him again.

This time he was ready, and slipped to the side easily. Moving only enough for it to miss, he quickly both hooked his ax and grabbed the chain with his hand. A familiar tingle spread across his upper body. Heaving with all his might, he marched rearward as fast as he could.

The golem let the slack flow through its hands but it wasn’t enough. The tail was attached to its body in a crossed X. On John’s third step, the chain went taut and the armored figure jerked forward. It slid across the smooth stone floor and into the trench. With a bang, it smashed into the near side wall and he had to quickly let go.

Glass shattering and metal groaning sounds reached his sensitive ears easily. The skull-weight head snapped its jaw at him from where it rolled near his feet. Thinking quickly, he grabbed the chain a few feet down and slung it into the pit with its body.

Stepping up to the edge, he watched it struggle feebly around the broken spikes piercing completely through the torso and limbs. He hadn’t actually killed it, but since it wasn’t his Task target, he had more important things to worry about.

With a running leap, he cleared the trench and moved on.

After an uninhabited hundred-yard hallway, he found the second Task target. Seated on a stone throne, at the other end of a long, wide room was the largest armored golem yet. Unmoving, non-glowing suits of armor lined both walls, outside the columns which held up the frescoed ceiling high overhead. Iron lanterns hung from each pillar, giving the room a dim, menacing air.

The roof art was a scene depicting a dive-bombing Ruby Dragon breathing fire at what John guessed was the original Hall as that icon burned. An armored figure, the unmistakable twin of the golem resting on the throne, rose triumphantly from the disintegrating structure with a massive brightly-glowing two-handed sword held above its head.

The actual golem itself was nearly eight feet tall, almost double all the others John had seen so far. Its armor style was very different as well. Whereas the others bore a strong resemblance to the European knightly suits of armor John had seen in museums, albeit with more engraved designs covering the plates, this armor had spikes and other protrusions sticking out from most joints, the shoulders and helmet.

A wicked crown of sharp tines crested its helmet. The left- and right-most side spires, above what would be its ears, were taller than the others, giving it a fearsome horned expression. The five-foot long sword pictured above leaned against one of the throne arms, though it was dull gray at the moment. A dinner-table sized triangular shield leaned next to it. Just as with the other golems he’d seen in the Labyrinth, this one glowed with an internal, deep red flame, and clouds of dark smoke drifted off its limbs and head.

John watched the thing for a long time, waiting for it to do something, anything. It neglected to oblige him with so much as a twitch until he entered the room and walked halfway to the chair.

“Challenger!” A deep voice boomed. “You trespass my hall with your Task badge and your impotent weapons. Few who stand against me survive for long. If you are wise you will withdraw. Return to the dragon above and report your failure.”

“You speak?” John asked in amazement. “None of the others down here talk. Who are you?”

“Talk? Of course they don’t!” The figure scoffed. “They are mindless puppets for the dragon’s or my amusement. Above, the Ruby Lady controls her slaves, but down here in the Labyrinth all belong to me! It was I who directed the guards against you. This allowed me to observe how you fight, and identify your weakness. You have good speed, I admit. Faster than any I have seen in quite some time. And some strength as well. But your weapons will do me no harm.”

The figure swept an arm out, indicating the room. “As you can see, there are no deep holes for me to fall into here. This contest is already decided. Flee, and know you were not fit to stand against Ignius, Forge Lord of the Labyrinth.”

John replied nonchalantly, “yeah, I’m going to give that a pass. Thanks though.”

Ignius paused. “You ... are willing to stand against me? Is this your foolish desire?”

“Too confusing for you?” John taunted. “Yes. I. Will. Fight. You. Got it?”

An unnoticed forge in the back corner flared to life. The air around it rippled with the heat emanating from the open furnace. It backlit an enormous anvil sitting before it.

“You are a fool.” Ignius announced, standing up.

The Forge Lord collected his sword and shield then made his way to the flame-filled forge oven. He stuck his giant sword into the fire all the way up to the cross-guard. Light flared and the blade went from dull gray to cherry red before brightening into an incandescent yellow-white. Veins of the same eye-watering color spread their way up his armor from his gauntlet to shoulder to the rest of his torso. Even his shield received a jagged pattern across the front.

“Ah!” Ignius sighed in satisfaction. “I love the smell of a forge before battle! It bears the scent of victory!”

John couldn’t believe his ears. He snorted, readying the Tooth and Cleaver.

The Forge Lord turned to face him. “You find me amusing? You’ll not think so once you’ve tasted my blade.”

John believed him. That massive sword looked hot enough to melt right through the Cleaver. He quickly shoved that one back into its sheath.

Can you take the heat? He asked the Tooth.

She snorted. You used my death spike on the fire blooded goblin killer. Use my ax blade on this one and you’ll see what my frost burn can do. Find an opening in his armor and I’ll do the rest.

John nodded to himself as the giant approached him. Ignius stepped with a measured, balanced tread. This was no lumbering too-heavy foe. He faced a tougher fight than any he’d had in recent memory.

The Forge Lord hefted his shield into place and took a few testing thrusts at John. Those were easily dodged; he didn’t even bother trying to parry.

“You’ll tire of this quickly enough.” Ignius told him.

The jabs turned into sweeping strikes with the massive blade. Sideways first, which John leaped back to avoid. Then an overhead slam that John dodged and used to close with the Forge Lord on his sword arm side. He backhanded Ignius’s gauntlet on his way past, but if the Tooth had any effect he didn’t notice it.

The giant was lighter on his feet than he should’ve been, but was still slower than John’s speed. The newly Evolved Warlord swung again, aiming for the back of Ignius’s knee. The Tooth slipped through a crack between the Forge Lord’s greave plates. He was going for accuracy over power, so the blow didn’t dig too deep.

The Tooth flashed her frost and he saw the bright veins nearby dim. Whatever the Forge Lord was made of under all that metal, it was vulnerable to the Tooth’s chilling cold.

Ignius swiped backhanded at him, forcing a distance-putting leap. John’s sharp Vision noticed a slight limp from the Forge Lord’s right leg.

“Ha! You’ll have to hit harder than that if you hope to have a chance!” Ignius scoffed.

“Oh, I will, fucker.” John muttered, ducking and weaving to avoid the constantly moving blade.

He stayed patient. One mistake and he’d be a smear on the floor. When Ignius swung from right to left, John sprinted. Calling on Vafthundryr, he chopped at the armored elbow, then again at the back of the Forge Lord’s right knee.

His first strike only impacted Ignius’s elbow guard, but with enough force to knock the arm astray. But John’s second hit got his foe’s attention. The Tooth again slipped between the joints of Ignius’s armor. This time the blow made the Lord stagger.

Her frost made all the veins below Ignius’s mid-thigh go completely dark. No glow from within outlined any armor from the knee down.

As the Forge Lord turned, John saw the right leg truly dragging. He’d wounded his enemy for sure but he kept his focus. It still wouldn’t take more than a single error for him to die horribly.

“I’ll enjoy using your blood to quench my next blade!” Ignius snarled, slamming down another overhead strike.

Something about the way the Lord moved made John jump back instead of taking the obvious opening. Good thing too, since rather than stopping the blow just before hitting the floor, Ignius turned it into a sweep which would’ve cut John’ legs off.

But the swing did leave the giant slightly extended. John ran to the Lord’s shield side. Though John’s body wasn’t in position for a strike on Ignius’s other leg, he was able to hook the Tooth on his foe’s shin guard. Vafthundryr’s tingle flashed across his arms as he twisted and pulled, running past.

A mighty crash from behind told John he’d been successful. He planted a foot and spun back toward where the giant already struggled to stand. Ignius’s right leg wasn’t cooperating, so John’s enemy was having momentary trouble.

Trouble he’d gladly take advantage of. As Ignius switched to using his left foot for support, John raised the Tooth overhead and chopped down, two-handed. Vafthundryr grabbed his muscles and John suddenly felt eight feet tall himself. With a roar John buried the Tooth into Ignius’s right knee from the back.

John saw the Tooth’s frost burn turn the body underneath into brittle gray. The joint shattered and the lower leg severed clean through. Ignius howled in anger and tripped back to his knees.

The giant swung his shield behind, its tip clipping John’s ear. He staggered clear, feeling blood pour from his auditory organ. Ignius used the respite to get his cooling sword into place as a crutch. The Forge Lord twisted as he found his balance to stand, releasing the shield in a throw right at John’s head.

He’d been moving to attack Ignius’s remaining leg, and had to do a crazy diving roll away. Ignius snatched up his separated foot and hobble-hopped towards the forge.

“Oh you have to be fucking kidding me!” John exclaimed.

Growling in frustration, John sprinted over to harry the giant. Ignius used the foot as a club, swinging it by the toes to brush John back. The Forge Lord couldn’t both move and swing, so it was a momentary stalemate. But John was now much faster on his feet than Ignius, even when running in circles around the larger opponent.

John kept moving until he was able to get in a hit against the now ‘only cherry red’ blade. He knocked the weapon aside just as Ignius was bracing it to spin. The tip swept across the floor, scouring a deep black gouge in the stone and failing to provide any support.

The Forge Lord went back down in a heap. He quickly let go of the severed foot to get both hands under him. His vision must have been restricted by his obscene helmet, because as the giant rolled to his front in an effort to stand, he presented the back of his neck right to John.

“Avalanche!” John roared in English as he executed another tingling two-handed overhead chop.

The first hit made the Forge Lord jerk. Veins all around Ignius’s shoulders went dark and the giant rotated his head slowly to see John.

“No...” Ignius moaned as John swung again.

The Tooth bit deeper the second time. She didn’t quite behead Ignius, but the giant dropped bonelessly to the floor and all light coming from his body extinguished.

The talisman filled with another third.

John staggered over to a column and slid to a seat on the floor.

“Well that sucked.” He muttered.

Embrace the suck! The Tooth quipped at him.

“Yeah, embrace it.” John agreed aloud.

Forcing his mind to start working again, he trudged over to the forge. The fire still burned, and there were two buckets by the anvil. One had oil, and the other water inside. He used the second to wash his ear clean, scrubbing off the bloody remains to find a still oozing gash across the outer cartilage.

He studied the fresh blood staining his hand, and the angry red middle fingertip he’d gotten climbing. The fabric he’d wrapped around that wound had long since fallen off, and ugly puss dripped from the opening.

I should cauterize this. He thought unhappily.

Do so. The Tooth encouraged him. And I will chill the heat away when you finish.

Sighing John pulled out a fire stoker from the nearby rack and stuck it into the open furnace.

“Fuck me.” He muttered.

His pained screaming echoed throughout the empty room as he did his ear first, then his finger. He crumpled to the floor afterward with the Tooth pressed to his head. He pressed the ax blade with his fiery fingertip, and begged her to numb both.

The Tooth could apparently moderate her enchantment, because a deadening chill filled both wounds. He rolled to his side, using the weapon like a pillow.

That’s enough for one day.

John woke up stiff and sore several hours later. The entire side of his head was numb and his finger was throbbing with reignited pain. He groaned and stood to stretch. His eyes felt gritty and his thoughts sluggish.

He used the Tooth to numb his hand again.

Thank you. He told her.

This time her tone was understanding. Embrace the suck.

“You got that right.” He replied aloud.

Remembering the draugyr hearts and varg orb from the North, John pried Ignius’s helmet off. Underneath was an empty ash covered steel skull. He levered the chest armor open and found more metal bones covered in ash. Where a heart muscle should be there was a ruby twice the size of any draugyr’s, still glowing a deep flame-red color. He tore it free and stowed it in his pouch, hoping the dragon didn’t demand it back without recompense.

Not wanting to run the risk of falling into the obsidian spike-filled trench, he dragged Ignius’s shield all the way into that room and flopped it across the chasm. It wasn’t the most stable of bridges, but given how exhausted his muscles were, he thought it a creative solution. Eventually, John found his way back to the intersection. To his vast unsurprise he found that the talisman directed him to take the final, left tunnel next.

After only a few yards, he hit another descending stairwell. Cautiously making his way deeper, the ambient air temperature rose dramatically. He was slick with sweat when he reached the bottom a half hour later. There the tunnel popped out onto a long stone bridge arching across an enormous cavern. Just inside the entrance to the football stadium-sized space was a set of steps carved into the rock leading down. A river of molten earth wound its way across the center, crossing far below the bridge.

Scattered around the room, both on the floor and hanging from the walls and ceiling were individual iron cages. A few were empty, but most had humanoid figures inside. Some of the inhabitants were long dead, leaving nothing but a skeleton behind. Others writhed in agony as the room’s main occupant played tongues of flame across their bodies. He saw goblins, lots of dwarves and even a couple humans imprisoned.

The room’s occupant had to be John’s third Task target. He stashed the necklace inside his armor so its brightly continuous flashing wouldn’t attract his last foe’s attention.

Not much of a Labyrinth! John rolled his eyes.

This opponent was going to be a real bitch. Though a foot shorter than Ignius, it looked like its actual body was burning continuously. He played his Sight across it, and could barely make out the form beneath. A mixture of combusting nearly-clear jellied skin and muscle over a dark steel skeleton were covered by small flame-hardened armor pieces strapped to various parts of its body. Each one was totally blackened but never melting. Wafer thin metal wings, wreathed brightly in fire stretched from the thing’s back. Its visage was a terrifying, demonic skull with a core of flickering orange-yellow light.

John couldn’t see any hand weapons either on the demon’s person or around the room. Conjuring flamethrower streams to torture the prisoners looked like the fire demon’s only weapon. Not that it needed much else! Last he’d checked, John wasn’t flame resistant.

Yet.

He retreated into the stairway out of sight, and spied on the demon for a long time. With the amount of flames that the thing was spraying across the cages, there was no way John could set a few free as a distraction or to help. The metal would be way too hot to touch. And he couldn’t run around dodging strikes like he had with Ignius. Swords have weight and heft, moving them takes effort, which takes time. Time he could use with his speed. This creature’s attack had no mass, fanning out in broad swaths that no amount of quick thinking or movement would let him dodge.

As if that wasn’t enough, the thing’s wings worked great. It flew around the place, from the roof to the ground without any apparent effort. There was nowhere to hide that it couldn’t get to in moments.

Can you even harm it? Will it damage you? John asked the Tooth.