Qing's Quest book 2, Chapter 36: Under Pressure

Qing cast Smite and charged the golem blocking their way back into the restricted section of the library. Behind him, Morgana, Knut, and Ghida stood, followed by his seven freshly summoned skeletons. They were all attacking the golem blocking their exit out of the restricted section. Qing’s axe glowed with templar energy, and he struck at the golem’s hip, trusting his skills to keep him safe. The golem ignored the oncoming hit and swung for Qing. Quick Reflexes proc’ed just before the axe impacted, and Qing bent nearly double. The axe hit, but his full power was no longer behind it, and it glanced off the stone. Then the first skeleton died behind him, and he felt the connection disappear from his mind. 

He had to keep the aggression, and he struck, sending the axe against the golem’s belly, but it was a feint. As the axe swung, he kicked at the golem’s leg, putting all his strength into the kick, aiming at hobbling the massive construct. But before the kick connected, a hand slapped into him, and he flew backward, crashing into the wall.

He cast Magic Missiles at the golem’s lion-like face, wincing at the minor headache that clawed at his mind. The golem struck, but the missiles must have blinded it, because when Qing dodged to one side, the fist went straight. With a crash, the fist pummeled into the wall and left a crater where his head had just been. 

Another two skeletons faded from his perception as Qing grabbed the golem’s arm. He wouldn’t be able to push it away, he’d seen how strong it was, but if he could control where it was, he could adapt and avoid its strikes. But he might as well have been trying to grab an excavator as the golem swept its arm in an arc, carrying Qing with it and smashing him against the other wall. Air was pushed from Qing’s lungs, and his armor caved inward, squeezing on his chest. But just then, Princess Ghida waved her hands, green light surrounding them, and she cast Earth Armor. A layer of stone covered his skin, halting the attack.

“Move,” Qing said, forcing the words out as the golem pressed him against the wall. “I’ve got him.” 

The golem grabbed Qing’s left hand and lifted him up. It squeezed, pulverizing his bones, and he screamed in pain. Then it swung him in an arc towards the wall, like a child smashing a doll. And its power was so fierce that his hand was torn clean off as he smashed into the wall, and only the Earth Armor saved him from dying then and there. As he collapsed to the ground, the golem stomped past towards his friends.

Blood poured from his arm and pain seemed to fill his entire being, but Qing pushed an elbow underneath himself and stared up at the back of the golem. He was now on the same side of the corridor as Rendal. This was the chance for him to run, escape with his life, to continue the quest to save both worlds. Fear ravaged through him, but it was an old friend, and he wrestled it down.

Ghida, Knut, and Morgana stood back to back between the golems. The mage skeleton cast an acid bolt at the other golem, as the last melee skeleton lamely swiped its axe to glance off it before getting pummeled into so many parts.

Only seconds remained before the golem would kill his friends. 

“Hey, stone face,” Qing called. “I’m not done with you yet.” He flung a Firebolt that splashed feebly against its back. The golem ignored it, instead reaching for the princess. So Qing pushed up and rushed forward, wounded arm held tight to his dented chest plate, and with all his might, speed and precision, he kicked the back of its knee. Just like happened in schoolyards, its knee buckled forward. The golem collapsed to a knee, and the hallway shook.

Another skeleton died, leaving only two. 

But that was fine. 

Because the golem’s head and neck now lined up perfectly in front of Qing. He lifted his axe one-handed as he cast Smite, setting the metal to glow. Before the golem could move, he put all his effort into the strike, every muscle straining, and the axe whistled through the air in the perfect attack. 

It struck fully on the golem’s neck.

But the edge stopped dead, and the hit recoiled up through the shaft, numbing Qing’s hand until it tingled with a humming energy. He stumbled backward, seeing the smallest chip had been carved from the golem’s neck, showing a lighter coloured stone underneath. But then his eyes focused on the edge of Paulhandler’s Keg-smasher, and horror blossomed in his belly. The edge was dented, bent sideways. His most powerful weapon had broken, from a single hit on the enemy. 

The last archer skeleton died, leaving only the mage.

“Run,” Qing screamed as he forced himself to swing the axe like a club at the rising golem. It glanced off, and he let go, instead kicking the stony back as high as he could with all the might of his legs. Despite his wounds, he would be counted amongst the strongest humans ever, and the golem stumbled forward, allowing Knut, Ghida, and Morgana to sprint past. As it struggled for balance, its lion head snapped at Morgana’s leg, but the jaws closed on air. 

They had made it.

Qing commanded the last mage skeleton to charge the golem as he turned to run, hopefully buying him a second. His wounded arm screamed in pain, and he could only fill his lungs halfway, but he had made it. 

Until the entire corridor shook so hard he was thrown from his feet. He looked back to see the golem laying flat on the ground. It had thrown itself forward, knocking them all off their feet. It opened its mouth, roaring, and for a second, the sound stunned Qing as the lion denied its prey freedom. That moment was enough, and its massive stone hand grabbed Qing’s ankle. 

Oh shit. 

His remaining hand clawed futilely at the floor as the golem pulled him closer, hand closing, crushing his foot to pulp.

Qing fought to push the pain back. If he hesitated for a moment, he’d be dead. 

The golem let go of his leg, reaching its palm towards Qing’s head, and he got his remaining hand and foot in the way. Back flat on the ground, he screamed and strained to hold it off, but like a hydraulic press, he couldn’t stop it. 

A fierce wind crashing into the golem, doing nothing.

Neither did the fire-tipped arrows ricocheting off its face. 

But then, Morgana’s whip wrapped around his wounded arm, cutting through his skin, and yanked him backwards. The stone palm slapped into his hip instead of his face. But like a pedestrian trapped between a wall and a car, his pelvis was squashed, bone splintering and flesh ripping. Darkness descended, pulling him towards death as he was nailed to the floor. 

But adrenaline flooded his system, and he pushed back the darkness, thinking of healing. 

He tried to use a potion, but there were none.

Morgana pulled on his arm, but the golem had him impaled, and he howled in pain as he was stretched between the two. There was nowhere for him to go, and the golem slowly got up on one knee and lifted its other hand to finish him. It made a fist, and slowly, inevitably, moved it towards Qing’s face. He stared up at it. He couldn’t feel his feet. His wounded arm was stretched towards Morgana. With his last will, he cast Magic Missiles at the fist, but they fizzled out against the stone as the fist came to a stop above his face. Then the golem punched, and Qing closed his eyes. 

“I’m sorry, meimei.” 

But the pain didn’t stop. 

There was no blessed escape. 

His friends kept screaming, pulling on his arm, and the torture wrecked his body.

So he forced his eyes open.

The golem’s knuckles hovered an inch from his nose, frozen. Carved into the stone were tiny wrinkles, imitating. 

“Quick,” Ghida said, “get him out while we can!” 

“That arm is stuck through his middle,” Knut said. “We’ll have to tear him in two.” 

“There are potions in the library,” the princess said. “He’ll have to do without legs for a while, but he can survive being torn in two. If the golem’s squash his face though, he’s dead.”

But before they could do anything, the golem simply stood up, removed its hands from Qing’s body with a squelch, and marched up the corridor, dripping his blood as it went. 

Qing reached up through the crown of his head and pulled down energy, casting Divine Light on himself as his friends surrounded him. Warmth spread through his body, and he raised his hand in front of his face. But the damage was severe. The bleeding stopped, but the skin only grew to cover a white stump. With a great struggle, Qing pushed himself up, nearly crying in pain, and looked towards his middle. The wound had closed, but the bones were not yet set. There was too much damage for only one heal, and he collapsed back to the wet floor. 

The others fussed around him, but he didn’t pay attention. All he wanted was for the cooldown to run out so he could cast another heal. He weakly waved a hand at them. Ghida must have misinterpreted because she grabbed it and pulled it to her bosom. 

“You’ll be fine,” she said. “I’ll make sure of it.” 

Knut stood and looked down the corridor, arrow on string, while Morgana gently ran a hand across his forehead. 

“You did good,” she said.

After what felt like an eternity, he could cast a second divine light, and the pain receded, though he winced at the unpleasant feeling of bones moving around inside him. But they healed. 

He sat up. His hand started reappearing, but the magic ran out halfway, and he chuckled, staring at a palm with no fingers. 

They never show this stuff in the movies.

“One more should do it,” he said.

“What did you do to the golems?” Ghida asked. 

He shook his head. “Nothing, I—” 

Running footsteps sounded behind them, and Rendal came screeching around the corner, heaving for breath. He held up a stone tablet, eyes manic, and said, “I’ve got the chip! I control the golems. The library is mine.” Suddenly, he seemed uncomfortable under their looks, and his shoulders slumped. “The restricted section, anyway.”

***

Qing sat in a super comfy chair with a cup of hot tea in his hands. It was a luxurious reading room that belonged to the head of the library. For the moment, he sat alone, enjoying the peace and quiet. With Rendal controlling the golems, no one could enter the restricted section, so for the moment, they had time and safety. 

Rendal and the princess had gone looking for books, both the one they had come for, and some others. Knut and Morgana were off hunting for treasures. 

Qing had needed some time to process.

He took another sip of the delicious black tea with its earthy flavour. 

Despite having thrown everything he had at the enemy, all he had done was scratch it. He was as far out of his depth here as when he had first come to Elrydisan. More, in some ways, because he’d thought he was getting a hang of it. But no. He had nearly died. The warmth of the tea contrasted with the icy grip of fear he’d felt during the fight, and the delicate liquid reminded him that mere inches had separated life from death.

Is survival just luck, or am I getting any better? Why am I constantly pushed to the brink? Is it just because I take on larger and more dangerous challenges?

The boy he had been when this started was no more.

That boy had struggled with simple things, enemies he’d now tear limb from limb with his bare hands or disintegrate with spells without lifting a finger. The pain and loss he’d gone through had sculpted him into a warrior. 

He thought back on this latest fight. The objectively smart thing to do would have been to flee down the corridor when he had the chance. But he hadn’t. That would have sacrificed his friends. He’d stood and fought against overwhelming odds. 

A smile crept onto his face as the steam from the cup blurred his vision. 

Rowan would be proud.

The door slammed open, and Rendal rushed in, clutching a book to his chest. “I found it,” he said, grinning. 

Ghida followed stately, then Knut, and Morgana brought up the rear. Their hands were all full of books, potions, and items. 

Qing’s smile grew. 

It was time to see what they had gained.