The Golem Conspiracy - Chapter 3

Nate was on edge; he was by himself and the Golem Jac and Nel left him with had its focus on him, drudging over to him. He took a deep breath and said, “Come get me then,” as he took aim and fired upon the construct. Each shot that landed didn’t slow down his enemy, yet ever so small pieces chipped away from its body’s surface. The Golem went from a clumsy walk to a brisk stride, and Nate decided to retreat the moment he could see it was turning into a reckless sprint.

He tried giving it the slip, running while the Golem gave chase heavily stamping its stone feet into the road. Nate would occasionally look back and blind fire at his pursuer, hoping the odd shot would land. Surprisingly, the Golem was able to keep up with Nate as he ran, though as he would take the odd turn left and right into alleyways and other roads, the stone construct would lose its footing to make the same manoeuvres.

Soon enough, Nate’s route came full circle back on the same street the whole brawl started. He dashed past an alleyway on his left, paying no mind to it. For a brief couple of seconds, he ceased sprinting and turned around again, bringing his pistol to bear. He could hear quite clearly the thunderous steps of the stone-automaton as it dashed after him, he could easily anticipate where it would appear from.

The stamping grew louder as the Golem emerged from around the building’s corner to attack Nate once more. The Mortal immediately started firing again, bolt after bolt, while he maintained a steady pose and pointing directly at the large glowing crevice in the centre of the Golem’s body.

Suddenly, amid the Golem’s relentless charge, Dan appeared with his own weapon in hand; a bo-staff. Jumping out the alley that Nate passed not a minute earlier, Dan swung the end of the staff at the construct’s legs, tripping it up and causing it to tumble down the street, slamming its limbs into the road as more splinters of bark, drifting leaves and chips of stone went flying in the air.

“Hey!” Nate called out to his friend. “You feel alright?” He was still concerned for Dan’s earlier injury to the head.

Dan winced a little, shutting his eyes tight for a second to cope with some dizziness. “Fine, I think,” he answered. But as the Golem began to stand up again, its body covered here and there with cracks and craters, Dan tightened his grip on his weapon. “No,” he said to himself, “I have to help,” he voiced conviction. His bo-staff on one end looked like it was made of a shaft of a semi-translucent orange substance like amber or glass which would glow the very same warm colour, strange flickers and embers coiled their way around it.

He charged in as the Golem, back on its feet, took a swing at its oncoming opponent. Dan swiped his weapon at the same time, forcefully knocking the automaton’s fist back, cracking its arm further and loosening it from the shoulder joint. It tried to retaliate, but Dan hit it back all the same, leaving its chest completely exposed. Dan lifted the staff above his head and plunged one end deep into the glowing crevice.

The Golem was jerking and shaking uncontrollably. Dan knew what would come next as he then dashed away from his foe, leaving his staff rammed in the Golem’s torso, sparks of green light flared from the gaps in the stonework. And all in mere seconds, the body cracked open and a strong, bright blast of energy sent every piece of rock, wood, rag and crystal flying in all directions. Thankfully, Nate and Dan had some distance between themselves and the exploding construct, looking back at what remained as leaves and sawdust drifted in the wind and falling from the sky was Dan’s bo-staff and the remaining head of the Golem, its eyes flickering for a moment before going completely dark.

“Whew,” Nate breathed a sigh of relief before dropping onto his rear to sit down. “Got there in the end.”

“Good thing too,” the deep, feminine voice from nowhere spoke to him again. “I was worried I’d have to come out and do it myself.”

“Why you don’t anyway is a mystery,” Nate bitterly replied to the voice.

The voice chuckled. “You know we must be discreet.”

Nate looked at the blasted remains of the road, scorched, cracked and beaten, covered inch by inch with the dusty remains of the Golem. “Yeah, so discreet,” he commented sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he did. “Speaking of,” he said as he could hear the gradual sounds of sirens in the distance drawing closer and closer. He ran over to Dan, who soon retrieved his staff, reaching his hand out to it as the pole-arm glowed and shrunk to form a coin in his grasp. “We should leave, man,” Nate said to his comrade, urging him to hurry along.

“One second,” Dan said as he quickly ran over to the Golem’s head and picked it up. “Alright, let’s go.” The duo ran into the nearest alleyway right before some police cars and an ambulance appeared onsite.

The alley weaved between two buildings and lead to another street, Nate looked to check the coast was clear before he and Dan walked out. “Act casual,” said Nate.

“Okay,” said Dan, but he wondered about the Golem’s head he had in his grasp. “But, this is just the Earth-Type. What happened to the Preacher-Type?” Dan was referring to the other Golem, the one Jac and Nel flew off with in their captive.

“Well,” Nate began to explain. “Remember that guy with the red scarf and the glasses from this morning?”

#

All while that happened, injured by the Golem in her grasp, the Preacher-Type as Dan called it, Nel was on a crash course into a roof of a high building in the south-west of Greenborough. Jac held on tight to her back as the whole group plummeted down. “Nel!” he shouted. “Are you alright!?”

“I can’t see!” she shouted back, all while trying to keep a hold of the Golem by its robe. She tried her best to course correct, flapping her large wings to lift herself up, but her lack of sight, along with the struggling Golem, compromised her awareness as the group crashed into the roof, all three of them tumbling apart from each other.

“Nel!” Jac called out before he hopped back to his feet despite the pain of his fall. He ran over to his Malak acquaintance, “Please tell me you’re okay.”

“Alright,” she said, holding a thumb up as he she held her other hand over her stinging eyes, “I’m okay.”

“Yeah,” Jac was exasperated, “you’re clearly not.”

“You told me to say I was!” she objected.

The Golem was also back to its feet, its gaze fixated on Jac and Nel. “Submit,” it commanded.

Jac still had his sword in hand. He turned to face the Preacher-Type. “Just sit back, Feathers,” he said to Nel confidently, perhaps unwisely. “I’ll deal with this.”

“My name isn’t Feathers,” she said in a confused tone; maybe she wasn’t aware of what a nickname was.

Jac took some steps towards the Golem, pointing his sword at it in challenge. “Let’s end this,” he said before he charged.

“Submit!” it repeated itself before firing a beam from its sceptre toward the approaching combatant.

Jac jumped up, leaping over the beam as it struck floor. The Golem fired another, Jac ducked under it. The distance was soon closed between the two and the young man swung his blade at the construct. But it was more capable of melee combat than Jac expected, as the Golem stepped to the side to dodge and retaliated with the length of the sceptre. Jac quickly brushed it aside with his weapon and made another attempt to strike. The Golem parried the attack and delivered its own, Jac responded in kind as the two went back and forth. Every attempt Jac made to attack was dealt with using a surprising level of skill from the Golem.

“You can do it!” Nel cheered, still holding her eyes to cope the stinging. “I believe in you!” As she did, the pain stopped, and her vision changed from dark to cloudy and then to clear again; she had recovered. She didn’t realise she wasn’t calling out towards Jac and the Golem’s direction as the first thing she saw was the landscape of the city. “Huh?” Hearing the commotion, she turned around to find the ongoing duel between her Mortal comrade and the animated stone being. “Ooh, I should help.” She leapt up and dashed into the fray, her ashen white twig held at the ready for more of its magical phenomena.

The Golem thrust its sceptre forward, Jac used the flat side of his sword to keep them at bay and push the construct back. “Not gonna lie,” Jac commented aloud with the faintest hint of a smirk on his struggling expression, “this is exciting.” Before the Golem could respond, it was knocked down to the side as Nel rammed her shoulder into it. “Feeling better?” Jac asked.

“The best!” Nel joyously answered.

As it stopped rolling on the ground, the Golem quickly took aim at the pair and fired from its sceptre, but both Jac and Nel narrowly avoided the beam. He charged in again, she followed his lead.

The Golem stood again and fired many beams energy, one immediately after the other at its approaching opponents. Nel took the initiative herself, grabbing Jac and quickly flying up into the air above, avoiding the oncoming projectiles.

She then swung Jac backwards. “Wait,” he asked with worry, “are you throwing me at it?”

That was exactly what she did; Nel flung her Mortal friend toward the Golem from above, taking the automaton, as well as Jac for that matter, by surprise. But mid-flight, he was able to regain some of his bearings enough to position his sword to plunge into the stone being. As luck would have it, the tip of the blade landed right into the glowing crevice of the Golem’s chest, the force of the whole movement pushed the construct onto its back again. Jac clumsily slipped and tripped, struggling to keep this footing, though his grip on his sword’s handle remained.

“Did it work?” Nel asked as she kept flying.

“I think so,” Jac answered as he saw the Golem’s stone body shake and jitter uncontrollably. White sparks flew from its eyes, the glowing crevice in its torso and even joints in its limbs. Though he didn’t know exactly what it was doing, Jac had a good impression as to what was happening as he urgently pulled his sword back, leaping off of the automaton’s body and running back before the Golem exploded, sending fragments of stone and crystal flying as well as the fluttering rags that was once its robe. Falling to the floor was the only intact part that remained was its cracked and beaten head; a few segments of its ornate headpiece had broken away, but its eyes remained bright.

“Hey,” said Nel as she flew down the automaton’s head, “let’s see if it has anything left to say.”

Jac too approached what remained of their opponent, treading over the dust and rags covering the roof of the building they stood upon. Standing over the Golem’s head, he picked it up and brought its eyes level to his own. “I’m gonna ask you one more time,” Jac interrogated, very sternly. “Who or what is the Massiark?” He was still wondering about that word the Golem said earlier; Massiark. Again, his letter that awoke him that night also spoke of it, so Jac knew this was no coincidence. He glanced over to Nel; perhaps she would know?

“Don’t look at me,” she said. “I’m in the dark here too.”

The white light in the Golem’s eyes flickered still, as if they were trying to stay on after all the damage it had endured. “The Massiark,” it eventually answered, “The God’s Exalted One among all the Malakim. All shall kneel before him.” Its gaze seemed fixated on Jac’s eyes. “You shall kneel before him.”

“No chance,” said Jac. “I don’t kneel for anyone or anything. Especially when whatever’s telling me to do so is causing trouble. Got it!?” he sternly told the construct’s head.

It didn’t answer immediately, only more sparks flared from the eyes and the cracks in the stone. But then it spoke once more, in yet another voice, smoother than the ones before. “…I’m sorry,” the Golem said, the sudden change in demeanour taking Jac and Nel by surprise. “…I beg you, help E-” but before it could finish that last word, it just stopped. The sparks ceased completely, and the eyes went dark; the Golem had finally succumbed to its damage and became completely lifeless.

“That was eerie,” said Jac, haunted by the construct’s last words. “Poor thing,” he dropped his blade and carefully held the Golem’s head in his embrace.

“Yeah,” said Nel, just as unnerved. “It sounded like it was controlled by something else against its will.”

“Hmm,” Jac looked directly into its eyes. “I know my life depended on it,” he said to it sombrely, “but I’m sorry too.” He turned to Nel, “Just what is all this about?” he asked her as he carefully placed the Golem’s head on the ground.

“I don’t know, honestly,” said Nel. “But given this might be a dream, does it matter?”

“I don’t think it’s a dream now,” said Jac.

“Really?” Nel’s eyes lit up with optimism.

“Don’t get me wrong, this is all still strange.” He took a couple of steps towards the edge of the roof, looking over the city landscape. “But it’s been…consistently strange,” he explained.

“That answers that then!” Nel exclaimed, triumphantly and excited as she jumped over to Jac and gave him another near-bone-crushing hug again. “I’ve found you for sure!”

Jac struggled for breath again. “Okay, hold on,” he said as he tried to push the Malak away. “Nel, didn’t you say earlier that you don’t know who, what or why you had to find me?”

“Yep,” she answered matter-of-factly, still in the throes of happiness of her achievement and failing to see what Jac had an issue with.

“And you don’t think that’s a little suspect? You followed that command without question. That can be dangerous.”

“I know it can be.”

Jac had an eyebrow raised. “And yet you still did.”

“It just…” Nel rubbed the back of her head as she wondered about the whole concern. “Something about this instance; it just seemed…right.” She rested her hand on her chest. “It felt right. If that same voice told me to do something else,” she clasped her hands together to cope with a little unease, “something harmful, perhaps; I’d, at most, be a little reluctant.”

Jac rolled his eyes a little.

“You don’t trust me?”

“Anyone knows you shouldn’t blindly trust a stranger.”

Nel pondered for a few seconds before snapping her fingers with an idea. “I’m gonna earn your trust then,” she determined. “You’ll see.”

Jac chuckled. “You’re optimistic. I like that.”

“See?” she smirked. “It’s already working.”

Jac laughed harder. His gaze and thoughts turned to the sword again. It glowed and then shrunk, morphing back into the much more compact six-sided coin sitting in the palm of his hand. “You know what?” He looked at Nel, “You,” then he held up the coin, “this,” and finally gestured towards the Golem’s head, “and this. I think we’ve got quite a mystery to solve. If this Golem was controlled by something against its will, and it’s not the only one in the city, it’s obvious what I gotta do; find whatever’s doing that and make it stop.”

“Ooh!” Nel couldn’t contain her excitement. “I wonder,” she grabbed the satchel on her side, “if there’s anything in here that can help.” She reached into the pouch and in her hand was a scroll. “What’s this?” she unravelled it to find a few paragraphs of text. “…Mye fry-ehnd,” she attempted to read. “Eeereha-leeseh…” Jac was cringing at her broken speech; much like earlier with his name on his pendant, Nel was proving to be illiterate. “Yohyoor…what’s that tiny line supposed to be?” she asked, pointing at the apostrophe on the word, ‘you’re’.

“Maybe I should read it,” Jac suggested. “May I?” Nel handed him the scroll. Jac noticed that the paper, from its black colour, the density and texture, to even the white ink for the text; it wasn’t unlike that mysterious letter he received the night before. He read the paragraph aloud.

My friend, I realise that you’re possibly agitated by the very sudden phenomena that belongs not to your world. Be not afraid, Jacob. I cannot risk telling you who I am or exactly what is happening yet, but know this; you are but one factor, albeit a vital one of my efforts to set things right. If you’re reading this, it means Nel has done as I asked, she has found you and she’ll stay by your side. I ask you be patient with her. She’s very young and she is uninitiated to the dogma of Eden and, for her sake especially, I pray she remains that way. My kin will not be far behind in what’s to come. If you ever meet them, I implore that you keep everything in this scroll to yourself. If I am to save Humankind from the wrath of the Massiark, they must never find out and play their parts according to my plan, wishful thinking as that may be.

Jac was nervous by what he was reading, but he also couldn’t help but get a little amused, restraining himself from cracking a smile. He continued to read.

One last thing; my brother, Samael, won’t be far behind either. I cannot guarantee where his loyalties will lie if you meet him, but I cannot stress this enough, approach with caution. Due to the actions of his previous incarnations, he has a reputation for being a maniac that revels in destruction and discord. Do not underestimate his might and treat every word he speaks with suspicion.

I would ask you to have faith in this letter, Jacob. But knowing you, I wouldn’t blame you for thinking that faith isn’t enough. Regardless, this may be our only chance.

Jac hung on the last couple of sentences; whoever wrote this letter knew some very intimate details about him, much to his disturbance. He took a deep breath and exhaled; his head was starting to spin as fatigue started to set in.

“Is something wrong?” Nel asked in concern.

Jac groaned a little. “To say this has been an eventful evening is an understatement,” he answered. Jac looked out at the street-lit cityscape before him. “I need to get home. I can’t say I’m fond of sleeping on the roof.”

“I’ll take you back then,” said Nel. She grabbed her new friend around the waist and picked him up, flying in the air.

The two of them were soon on their way back to Jac’s apartment, flying graciously high above the city below. Jac certainly had his thoughts racing about this strange occurrence, but he couldn’t help but emit a hum of concern about something. “Do I tell them?” he wondered aloud. “Or do I keep them out of this?”

“What are you muttering about?” Nel asked.

“I’m just thinking. I have friends living in this city. They could be in danger because of this. I know that scroll said we should be secretive, but do I keep them in the dark too? Then again,” he realised, “they’ll probably think I’m crazy or they’ll freak out if they see the weird stuff themselves.”

“I’m sure we’ll figure something out.” Nel’s tone was upbeat. “Right now? Let’s just focus on our mystery, huh? Let’s find whatever’s controlling the Golems.”

Jac was infected by Nel’s optimism as he laughed. “Yeah, let’s.” Even with the tiredness overcoming his whole body, he couldn’t help but be a little excited. Even though he was teased for it by his friends, perhaps his desire to be a hero wasn’t too farfetched after all, because if it wasn’t, if his childish dream hadn’t faded over the years, then he and his new companion had quite the adventure ahead of them.

#

As dawn broke over the city, the police had since cordoned off the street where the battle with the Golems happened. It wasn’t long before another car, a small and old blue hatchback, showed up. Emerging from the driver’s side door was a formally dressed woman. She approached the scene, the breeze emphasizing the blue scarf and the long ponytail of her brunette hair, she produced a notebook from her jacket’s inner pocket before she spoke to one of the officers that stood by. “Excuse me,” she requested the officer’s attention. “Sir? I was hoping I could ask some questions.”

The officer, a middle-aged man, rubbed the sleep from his eyes and cleared his throat. “Can I help you, madam?” he asked.

“My name is Sana Nasier,” she introduced herself, “I’m a private investigator.” She readied a pen in her hand to write in her notebook. “Do you know if anyone around here may have seen anyone or anything suspicious? Was there anyone who may have been involved with whatever happened here perhaps?”

“I dunno personally,” the officer answered. “The detectives do the interviews; I just make sure nobody goes near the site. Though, I hear some nutter apparently saw some alien with wings flying through town.”

“Is that right?” Sana asked as a smile of excitement crept across her face.

“Supposedly, it was carrying a man with a long red scarf. It might have been the same as someone they’ve seen around these parts as well.” Sana quickly jotted the details into her notebook, as she intently listed to what the officer disclosed to her.

The pale stranger soon passed by the street himself. In spite of the cordon, he could see the damage done; the scorch marks, cracked walls and road, even the ever so tiny particles of the Golem’s crystals glistening in the light. He didn’t stop to investigate further, as he already had an idea of what transpired, grinning with giddiness as he rested his index finger against the temple of his head. “I should speak with him then.” He thought aloud as he continued to walk. “If you made him your Judge, Brother, then all is well.”

One hundred and twelve days remain…