J King - Edge of Destiny

"I wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for you," Rytlock snapped.

"You wouldn't be in this mess if you'd left Ascalon to us," Logan replied.

The hyenas were snapping at their heels.

Rytlock drew Sohothin and backhanded two of the beasts right behind him. They squealed and fell away.

Another peal from the ogre horn announced that the brutes had sighted their quarry. The ground shook with the footfalls of the ogres.

Logan hoisted his war hammer. "We have to turn and fight. The hyenas will drag us down."

"No! Just keep running!" Caithe shouted.

"What's the point?" cried Rytlock. "You got some secret fortress hidden in your pocket?"

"Yes!" Caithe said, suddenly dropping away into a narrow cleft in the ground.

Eyes wide, Logan ran up on the same cleft and skidded to a halt in front of it. The steep crevice plunged away into unseeable depths, and the sylvari had vanished into it.

"Look out!" Rytlock shouted, running a hyena through with his flaming sword.

"Thanks," Logan replied, pulping the head of another.

As they fought the snarling beasts, both warriors backed toward the deep crevice.

"You think she did that on purpose?" Logan asked, mowing down another hyena.

"Of course!" Rytlock growled through clenched teeth. "She's sylvari!"

More hyenas converged out of the grasses, their fangs snarling.

"I'll give her the benefit of the doubt," Logan said as he leaped into the gap, sliding away between walls of stone.

Rytlock rolled his eyes and killed another hyena. "I'm not going to be outdone by a human and a twig." He sheathed Sohothin and jumped down the crevice, too.

Eir stepped back from carving another huge basalt head. It showed Snaff's face-the quirky rumple of his brow mirrored below in a slight smirking lip, the wide and happy eyes, the long nose, and those ears like milkweed pods.

"How do I look?" Snaff asked, posing nearby.

Pacing across the stone chips that littered the floor of Snaff's laboratory, Eir said, "You look good."

"Good?" Snaff said dejectedly. "Not dashing?"

"I've never seen you dash…"

"How about brave?"

"Sure," Eir said as she brushed rock dust from her hands. "Brave."

Snaff waddled up beside her and stared at his likeness. A smile crept onto his face, and he said, "Brave."

"Well, that does it for the second head," Eir said. "What about the body?"

"Oh! Zojja's been working hard on my design," Snaff said enthusiastically. He grasped the norn's hand and led her over to a short drafting table covered with sketches. All showed a spherical cage with a leather harness suspended within. "The cage is for protection, of course, like your rib cage, because inside it is where the driver will be suspended. These straps will hold the person secure within the center of the cage, with side straps to stabilize in case the golem falls over."

"Ouch," Eir said.

Snaff nodded. "Yes, and you see that there's plenty of clearance for flailing arms and legs."

"Show me how far we are."

Snaff led Eir to the worktables that held the metal golems. From the belly of Big Zojja, a blinding light flashed, and acrid smoke whiffed into the air. The light ceased, and Zojja's head popped from the opening, her hair slightly singed. She set smoking hands on the golem fuselage.

"Have you been welding by hand again?" Snaff asked.

"It's fastest," Zojja said dismissively. "But I've got to make sure my eyes are shut."

"How are the cockpits coming?" Snaff went on.

"Nearly done. Both are welded to the frame. Then you can hang your rigs."

"Ingenious," Eir marveled.

Zojja huffed. "Only if you trust metal over magic."

"Eir," Snaff interrupted, "I don't think I've shown you the laurels…"

"Wait," Eir said, staring at Zojja. "What did you say?"

"I said I don't know why the two of you are putting more trust in golems than in magic."

"They're magic golems," Snaff volunteered with a weak smile.

Eir waved him off. "No, wait. This isn't about magic or metal. This is about Zojja disagreeing with the plan."

Zojja nodded tightly. "Exactly."

Eir folded her arms over her chest. "So you don't think your master's designs are good enough?"

Zojja's eyes flared. "Of course they are!"

"So you don't think your welds are good enough?"

"My welds are rock solid!"

"So you don't think my plans are good enough."

Zojja pointed at her. "There you go."

Eir nodded. "Well, your reservations are noted, but the plan goes ahead."

"Then we're all going to get killed."

Eir laughed angrily, shaking her head. "No, we won't. I promise you, we will kill the Dragonspawn, and every one of us will walk out of there alive."

Zojja cocked her hips. "If I die, it'll be too late to say I told you so."

Eir towered above the asura. "Your master is a kind man. You could have much worse. In fact, every asura I have encountered would make a much worse master."

"Thank you very much," Snaff said. "And now, about the laurels-"

"But he has one fault," Eir continued, never looking away from Zojja. "He lets you pretend you are the master."

"That's because he recognizes that I am a genius," Zojja said archly.

Eir shook her head. "You work with a genius, and yet you disdain everything he does. He treats you with respect, and you act as if he is your enemy. One day, you will be without him, and then you will see who the true genius is."

Zojja rolled her eyes. "Nice speech."

Eir clenched her hands, gritted her teeth, and turned away.

Snaff smiled and blinked placidly. "Let me show you these wonderful laurels." He retrieved a pair of golden torcs from a nearby table and brought them over. Powerstones in red, yellow, purple, and green gleamed in settings of gold. "Beautiful, aren't they? The stones are selected to map to the activation zones of our minds."

The word minds cast a pall over Eir's face. "Yes. Minds. There's the flaw in my plan." She glanced over her shoulder, then looked back down at Snaff. "The Dragonspawn takes over minds. He corrupts them. His power infuses them, tempts them. He turns those who want to kill him into those who want to serve him. These machines are no good unless we can block his mind powers."

Snaff grinned like a boy who had studied well for a test. "He can't. That's why I've placed these here," he said, tapping a powerstone embedded in the shoulder piece of Big Zojja. "The gray stones repel mind auras. Out here on the shoulders, they'll create a field that will block the Dragonspawn's mind. He can't reach us, and he can't take over our golems."

Eir slapped Snaff on the back, a move that shuffled him a few steps forward. "You are a genius. But could you put some gray stones in a necklace for me and a collar for Garm?"

"Of course," Snaff replied offhandedly, but then said, "You know, nobody else has this technology. Everybody else is making golems without heads!"

Eir feigned shock. "No!"

Snaff nodded deeply. "Their golems fumble around, while mine combine the genius of an asura with the power of a titan! Nobody can do this stuff!"

"They all think he's cracked," Zojja explained flatly as she jumped down from the belly of her golem. "I agree. Sometimes."

Eir laughed ruefully. "So, is everything ready?"

"Everything except the head of my golem," Snaff said. "You can put that into place while I get your gray-stone necklace and collar made. Then we'll have a meal and a rest, and tomorrow-"

"We march on the Dragonspawn."

She headed back toward the worktables, lifted the huge head of Big Snaff, and slid it into position atop his metalwork body. When the stone base contacted the metal frame, loops of steel rose to engage the stone shoulders and clamp down tightly. Then Eir had only to set a powerstone in the head of the creature. It fused with the basalt, sinking in and rooting.