Short Story / Metal Maddness

I stood against the wall, leaning on it for support, my leg numb from the pain and loss of blood. I told myself I could not look back; I had barricaded the doors enough to not let it in… There were voices coming from some direction, but I could not pin point them due to the scraping metal sounds from behind the door. As I hobbled with all the speed I could gather toward the large chamber in front of me a sound from behind me made me stop. I looked over my shoulder to make sure I had not imagined it, and as if to answer me the door inched forward slowly, knocking a few random items I had placed in front of it aside. My eyes widened in fear as I watched the clawed hand of my pursuer emerge from the other side of the door. I spun around and began to attempt a get away with renewed effort. The sounds of the door pushing aside the items blocking it grew quieter… and for a second, I had a hope within me that the door would give no more room to allow entrance, but the hope was shattered, as was the door with a loud BANG. I reached the new chamber and quickly scanned for my next exit, finding my answer to the left of me, I pulled open the door and barreled into four armored men.
“C-Commander! We were looking …” the closest started, but I cut him off.
“Golem, closing in, pure metal… fast… got my leg…” I wheezed out, the sound of metal clanging against stone becoming louder, I knew it would only be moments before it arrived. The largest man of the group closed the door and nodded at us.
“You go, get the commander out of here, I’ll hold off the golem for as long as I can…” The other men nodded and two of them hoisted me up and supported me on their shoulders. The sound of metal had stopped; apparently the golem had not seen my turn. The men were light in their stepping, not wanting to attract the unwanted attention of the golem, even the slightest of noise had been known to tip off the behemoths. Monstrous steps gave evidence that whatever path the golem had in mind, it was not our door. The others must have realized this as well, one of the two supporting me sighed in relief, not realizing the grave mistake he had just made. The sound of metal began to thunder towards our door, and the men froze for a moment, taking the time to register what had just happened. “GO!” I screamed as the men came to their senses. Giving up subtly for a distressed panic, the men began to run, out of step and nearly dropping me more than a few times. A blood curdling scream came from the direction we had just left, the other men either did not hear it or agreed that this was not the time to show sorrow. The man leading us stopped abruptly, his face was grim under his full plate helm. “You take the commander out; I’ll lead the golem on the wrong path.” He said, the men nodded and quickly set out once more, supporting me with them. We passed a few recognizable things as we charged towards a large courtyard, fresh with the bodies of some of the others I had commanded not to long ago, and I realized we had almost escaped this god-forsaken place. The sound of metal had become a little more distant, meaning the goose chase had been successful. We neared the front of the gates when we saw it… It stood on the second floor balcony, overlooking the gates. I had to rub my eyes to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. It wasn’t until it lowered its raised armed that I knew it was no hallucination, and that it had really beat us to the exit. Suddenly, something landed behind me, and I froze. I knew what it was, just from the squishy sound it made as it plopped down onto the earth just behind us, but I looked anyway, to confirm the thought. Staring back at me was the head of the second guard… and not too far behind that were a few detached limbs… I wanted to puke, but I forced it down. The golem glared down at us, but made no movements for a while. I noticed a few pieces of metal had been slashed at, probably from the man who died at the door. The other two allowed me to balance myself on the ground, and drew their weapons. Both knowing that they had to buy me some time to escape. “Sir, you should stay behind us, we can position ourselves to cause blind spots allowing you to escape while we attack it.” I nodded at the man, I felt bad, these men were sacrificing themselves for my sake, and for my mission. I was sure they had family, and a life outside of the military, but the selfless men came and rescued me from this keep. The golem wasted no more time; it leapt down from the balcony and landed between us and the exit. The towering metal man seemed to effortlessly regain any balance that any human would have lost during the landing. Both of my men readied themselves for the fight that would ensue. I choose the guard to my left to be the meat shield, and waited till the golem had focused its attacks on the guard to the right, so I could escape while its back was turned. As if it had been anticipating this, the golem suddenly sprang forward with deadly accuracy and speed, eviscerating the man, leaving only the guard I had stood behind left, but the golem had no interest in him, it lurched forward and attempted to attack me from behind, but the last man place himself firmly between the golem and myself. The golem attempted to bat the man aside, but a well placed strike severed the oncoming arm. Almost as if cliché I heard the remaining guard muttered something about tasting his steel. I forced myself into a run, ignoring the growing pain from my maimed leg. I was only seconds away from the giant gates when I heard the scream of agony, then another moment later… and then one final scream that seemed to be cut off at the end… the golem was making him pay for the damage caused. I made my way to the closest horse and quickly mounted it, taking hold of the reigns, I urged the horse to make its way to the forest as fast as possible. Upon reaching the forest, I allowed the mare a short break for grazing and watering. I myself was much parched, and starved as well… searching the area; I found no small game or wildlife I recognized as edible. I grasped the two pendants around my neck and gave a quick and quiet prayer to thank the gods for the lives that were spent inside that tower to save me and help me accomplish the mission that day. A sudden rustling in the nearby brush caught my attention, and hunger overcame fear as I dare to imagine a hare had carelessly allowed me to track it, my hand darted forward to grasp it, but I found nothing soft or furry… but something cold and hard… as I withdrew my hand I examined blood on my palm… My eyes widened as I saw a blur of grey and crimson swing for my face… and then, I felt, heard, and seen… nothing.

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