Magus Vol. 1 Page 4

  Chapter 4

  So this is how I die.

  A pillar of emerald light lifted from the circle, carrying the materials up with it. The chant finished with one, final, powerful chord as the different materials came together.

  A silhouette slowly took shape, but the light's intensity ramped up over the following seconds, making it increasingly difficult to view their creation take form.

  The pillar exploded. A loud crash came from the circle.

  A towering, thing stood in the center of it, watching us. It's head took the form of a mini-fridge, its limbs made from pipes, its torso was a mixture of entangled metal sheets and an engine block. Copper wiring hung from the top of its 'head' in something resembling a pony tail.

  Its front arms came down, crashing against the flooring. It's posture resembled some kind of freakish trash gorilla.

  We stared as it took a lumbering step toward us.

  I crept closer to Maude. It stepped closer to us.

  Another step from me. Another step from it.

  I snatched the broken lantern from Maude and tossed it at the creature.

  The lantern bounced off of its head with a metallic 'clink' before falling and rolling across the ground. It slowly made its way back to us.

  It stared down at us, motionless. Maude stared at me. I stared at the lantern.

  And threw it again.

  The lantern stopped short of hitting it. A green light shone from the creature's body, surrounding the lantern. It floated around behind the creature's head. The wiring sticking out of the golem's head entwined around the lantern, fixing it into place.

  I tossed the worn sword at it, only for the golem to repeat the process with the blade, affixing it to the end of its right hand.

  It took a swing at Maude and she flipped backwards, narrowly avoiding contact with her stomach.

  “We, uh.” Maude glanced between me and it. “We should probably run now.”

  We sprinted back through the tunnel at the top of the stairs behind us and out of the cultists' lair. That creature was three times as tall as any human, which gave me hope that it was trapped underground.

  That hope was destroyed instantly as the creature exploded out of the can mountain behind us as soon as we escaped. Sheets of metal hidden just under the enormous pile gave way to the sudden strain, collapsing into a previously hidden hole, and disappearing into the cultist's lair.

  It tried to clamber out of its hole, repeatedly struggling to find footing amongst the ring of cans left around its exit.

  Maude took the initiative to sprint at it full speed and jump on its face, sending it back down. She managed to find safe footing outside the hole after bouncing off its fridge-head.

  “So, do you actually have a plan?” I asked.

  “The plan was to stop them before they made something like this!”

  Metal shifted and groaning from inside the hole.

  A metal nub covered in sheets of metal emerged, followed by similarly reinforced arms.

  “Oh. Crap,” I said.

  It pulled itself up, revealing its body was coated in the metal once used to support the walls of the hidden chamber. Oddly, numerous cans stuck out of its body haphazardly.

  It barreled toward Maude, who weaved to the side and slashed its left arm as it came down next to her. Her claws painfully erupted in a metallic squeal and left large cuts along the sheet metal.

  It used its free arm to stab at her with the rusty blade I had inadvertently provided. Maude swiped at the sword, shattering it, but took the full impact of its metal nub. She rolled across the dirt before sprawling out several feet away.

  “Hrm...” Maude staggered back to her feet and looked at her sunglasses.

  One of the lenses was missing and the frame was bent.

  “You. Bastard,” she growled.

  Maude crushed the sunglasses in her hand before tossing it at the golem. It didn't flinch.

  “You.” Her fists shook. “Will pay for this!”

  Maude pelted the hulking heap with anything she could grab. The creature settled down, quietly allowing itself to be hit while green light enveloped each projectile. Each new piece of scrap was assimilated in short order.

  A pipe struck its face.

  A tire iron bounced off its torso.

  A manhole cover tore through its shoulder.

  I slowly backed away from the scene, watching in horror as the golem steadily grew in size piece-by-piece. “Maude. Stop.”

  Maude breathed heavily, her face contorted into a fierce scowl. She looked around herself.

  She had thrown everything away that was within arms reach.

  The golem shifted forward, the lumbering thing ready to attack once again.

  I crept over to Maude, wary of the thing. “Are we... you know?”

  She gave me a tired look.

  “You know?”

  She blinked.

  I sighed. “Are we going to die?”

  Maude stared at me, then back at the golem.

  It awkwardly stepped forward, the golem's weight shifting around. Loose bits of metal sticking out of its body groaned. Its leg slipped, and it fell flat.

  A tire iron flipped out of its back and slid toward us.

  The golem shook itself violently. Metal squealed as excess parts flung free from it, clattering around the yard. It stood back up.

  I watched with interest. “Hey, Maude.”

  It stomped its arms down, shaking the earth, and charged toward us. I sprinted off to the side while Maude slid between its legs.

  It crashed into the recycling center, obliterating the wall and collapsing the roof.

  I almost hope Mr. Beal wasn't in there.

  Green light softly shone from within a cloud of dust bellowing from the destroyed building.

  A loud metallic pounding rang out from the building. Then another, and another.

  The golem emerged from its smokescreen, its gait lopsided as it struggled to stand. Metal fused into the crevices of its right arm, eventually stopping its movement entirely. The entire body groaned in one long, painful moment before the arm forcibly bent itself, crushing the assimilated metal.

  It limped forward.

  I looked to Maude. “I don't think it has any control over absorbing metal.”

  Maude tapped her foot against the dirt.

  “Maude?”

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

  “Maude...?”

  “I'm thinking.” She scanned the yard.

  The golem stomped its jammed arm down in front of her and raised the other arm up high. Maude smirked.

  It brought its arm down like a hammer, crushing the earth. Maude skidded backwards.

  She grabbed a speed-limit sign and leapt at its more mobile arm, stabbing the pole into its artificial joint. Maude held onto the sign as it lifted its arm up, studying her.

  It fell forward, supporting its weight on the arm she clung to as it struggled to lift its other limb. The damaged limb came to rest just short of its shoulder before scraping loudly along the top of its working arm.

  Sparks flew along its path as Maude jumped off the arm. The street sign was flattened when the arm passed over it. A familiar green light melded it into place.

  The creature went through a familiar motion of trying to move, only to find the joint jammed. It violently shook the limb before fruitlessly trying to pluck the pancaked sign off its joint with its free metal nub.

  Maude landed on its back, slid down to its legs, and stabbed a pair of signs into each one.

  The creature's leg slid forward, but the entire entity came crashing down immediately. Maude climbed onto its back before violently slashing her claws into it, burrowing into its insides. It pushed down and flipped itself onto its side.

  Metal squealed as it pushed itself just enough for gravity to roll it over completely.

  Maude didn't move out of the way before it completed its transition.

  A loud crash came from it whe
n the golem slammed back down and came to a rest.

  “Maude...” I stared, my mouth agape.

  It turned its head over to me.

  I flinched back.

  Something ground around inside its body. Metal scrapped, squealed and groaned, but the creature itself wasn't doing anything at all.

  It slowly leaned forward, studying its own torso before a loud bang sounded from within it.

  The creature fell limp.

  A green light spread to its form before dissipating.

  The golem's body fell to pieces.

  I stared as a pristine can rolled by my foot.

  A clawed hand burst from the golem's chest. A second hand pried the shell of sheet metal open.

  Maude crawled up, took one step forward, and fell across the ground. She placed a hand on her chest and stayed in the dirt. “Woo.”

  “Maude,” I said.

  “Hmm?” She mumbled.

  “Maude!” I sprinted over to her. “I thought that thing killed you!”

  “Sorry to disappoint.” She laughed. “You thought this ugly bastard was gonna take me down? Hah!” She pointed a finger at me. “Hah, I say!” It immediately fell limp.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  Maude groaned as she sat up. “Let's find out.” She lifted her shirt up enough to expose her stomach. White fur coated it just as it did her arms and face.

  I didn't see anything unusual about it, well aside from the obvious.

  She gently touched the left side of her stomach. Maude's rounded ears pinned to the sides of her head as she winced.

  I knelt down next to her. “You need to go to a hospital.”

  “It's just one hit, I can walk this off. Easy.” She struggled to stand.

  “No.” I held her back with a hand on her shoulder. “You need to-”

  “No,” She smacked my hand away and leapt to her feet. “I need to go finish those- hey!”

  A small crowd of cultists were climbing the fence.

  “Get back here you bastards!” She sprinted at them but abruptly came to a stop, clutching her stomach.

  I came to her side. “Maude, its over.”

  She scowled at her fleeing enemies.

  I tugged her back in the opposite direction.

  “Fine. But I'm still not going to the hospital- OH MY GOD!”

  I jumped back. “What's wrong!?”

  Maude snatched the lantern that once hung off the golem's head. “It's fixed! Its scrapology magic repaired it! It's in pristine condition!”

  Maude hugged the refurbished lantern. Copper wires still wrapped around the top of it.

  Half-an-hour later we sat by a bus stop in a lonely street. The bench was old and lopsided, aggravating me greatly. I did my best to sit still, but it kept shifting. A schedule was posted nearby, but its case was broken open and the schedule within torn and mostly missing.

  I had no idea how long we'd have to wait.

  Maude had kept silent during our entire walk to the stop, and still didn't say anything after we sat down. I worried she was in more pain than she let on. Her ears were down, it kinda reminded me of a sad animal.

  Maude sighed. “Hey.”

  I jumped when she spoke.

  She grinned, but suppressed it quickly. “Sorry.”

  “Don't worry about it.” I chuckled. “I just didn't expect you to say anything”

  Maude shook her head. “That's not what I meant. I'm sorry I dragged you into this.”

  “Yeah, well its not like I had much else to do so...”

  “You're not a student,” she said. “I assumed you were. I never would have brought you here if I'd known you were just a janitor.”

  “Hey!” I snapped.

  Maude stared, eyes wide, ears perked up.

  “I'm not just a janitor. I'm a groundskeeper.”

  A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “It that a fact?”

  “Yeah. I'm not just some kid working a minimum wage job. I'm a specialist.”

  Maude put a hand over her mouth, failing to suppress a laugh.

  “You think just anybody can pick up trash around the campus?” I wagged a finger at her. “Nope, you need someone with the skills.”

  Silence settled over us, and I took in the night-time atmosphere. The stores littering the street were all closed, their lights long since turned off. Not a single car had passed us at any point during our wait. I didn't mind though; sometimes you just want to lie back and let everything soak in.

  “When do you start working?” Maude asked.

  “Tomorrow,” I said.

  “So, I'll see you around the institute then?”

  “Yep. You planning on dragging me along another misadventure?”

  She laughed. “Not if it's this dangerous.”

  ###

  Thanks for reading my first ebook. If you enjoyed this I hope you're willing to look up Magus Volume 2 when it comes out.

  You can contact the author at: odic_hastings@yahoo.com

  Seriously, feel free. I'd like to hear anything nice you have to say.

  And if you don't have anything nice to say, I'd like to hear from you even more.

  Jesse Freeman. Wannabe writer.