She has to run.
"Stupid."
The Golem behind her moves at a mechanical pace, slow but constant.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid."
She has to run. If she doesn't, the Golem will reach her, and that will be the end.
"Don't let it see you," she reproaches to herself. "But you couldn't even do that."
She is frightened. No more than some days ago, she saw the Golem pass through a tree as if it wasn't even there, leaving only pieces of timber on its wake. It was relentless and merciless. Yet, also careless. The only difference between the Golem and the ground under its steps was the movement. By all accounts, it was another part of the empty lands, never acknowledging anything in its silent march.
Except for when it saw her. When her curiosity got the best of her, making her approach the imposing monster. When she was just a few steps from the Golem. When it interrupted its procession and turned its expressionless clay face at her.
They stood still for a moment that could have been either seconds or years. Time, as everything else in the empty lands, didn't have much meaning.
The Golem was the first to move again, this time to take a step in her direction. At first, the surprise prevents her from moving. But in the eternal moment between the first and the second step, she realizes time and space have suddenly become very real and very relevant once again.
She doesn't know what it wants to do, but she doesn't want to find out. As far as she knows, she's running for her life.
At moments, she has to halt to regain her breath. But the Golem doesn't. It doesn't take much for it to gain on hear each time she stops. It also takes less to gain on her each time she has to slow down. That could mean she's getting slower, or that the Golem is going faster. Either way, she can keep this for too long. Sooner or later, she will have to face the thing behind her.
As she continues running, she searches the clothes she doesn't remember putting on. She reaches in, as if guided by an invisible force, and finds something small but heavy. She pulls a knife out of her clothes. It's short and straight, made out of a black metal she doesn't recognize. Yet, she does know the double-edged blade and round handle make it a throwing knife.
She looks back and realizes the Golem picked up the pace, just mere steps away from her. Out of despair, she throws the knife, once again guided by that invisible force, hitting the Golem on the side of its neck.
It stops at the attack, as if it had stunned it. She looks back, slowing down once again. The Golem stays still for a moment, but only to reach for the knife, pulling it out of its clay neck and letting it fall on the ground as it began to move again.
She frantically search in her clothes as it approaches her again. She finally finds the belt across her hip from where the throwing knife came, and where a second one is resting at the opposite side. Without a second thought, she threw the new knife, hitting the Golem on its chest this time. Not to the center, but to its left, where a heart should be. She's not running away anymore.
Once again, the Golem stops its silent march to pull off the knife. But this time, it doesn't let it go. Instead, it raises the knife over its head, moving at her, but she's ready now. When the Golem brings the knife down, she rolls out of its way, throwing herself at the ground behind it.
Right where it left the first knife fall.
For a moment, she's about to think. But when the Golem tries to turn around at her for a second attack, all thought leaves her mind. There's only one reaction.
She jumps at the back of the clay monster. Now she's close enough, she realizes how much bigger than her it is. She holds herself tightly with an arm around its neck, using her free one to dig the knife deep in its shoulder. The Golem doesn't move that much, besides reaching back with its arms. But it's unable to catch her.
She takes out the knife from its shoulder and slides it across the Golem's eyes. This time, its reaction is not as slow as with the previous assaults. Now it moves violently, quickly turning around and finally making her fall from its back.
She loses grip of her knife and can't see where it falls. There's no time to look for it, as the Golem approaches. Even with its eyes deformed by the passing of the blade, it keeps moving at her, as if it didn't need to see her. Worse, it finally grabs her arm.
The Golem lifts her by the arm while raising its free limb, still holding the other knife. Disarmed and unable to escape, she can only watch as the Golem's slowly moves the knife towards her.
As before, instinct takes over and she swings her body, using the Golem's grip of her as a support point to kick the knife from him. The Golem reacts by grabbing her neck with its now free limb. She tries to fight, hitting its wrist with her free arm, but as always, the Golem is impassive. She can feel her lungs on fire as she tries to breathe. The empty world becomes emptier, now swallowed by darkness as her vision fades.
The last time she will see is the Golem's eyeless face. In one last act of defiance, she kicks it. But all she can manage is to scratch its forehead.
Only for the Golem to go limp, releasing its grip on her arm and neck, letting her fall on her back.
She inhales desperately, as her vision comes back from darkness and into a blur of tears. She rolls over to stand on her knees, taking off the hood covering her neck and pulling from the edges of the collar of her clothes. One breath at a time, she realizes she's alive again.
Next to her, the Golem's lifeless body falls over.
She raises up to her legs, ready to run away if needed. Nevertheless, the clay figure remains still, so she begins to approach it. As she does so, she finds the knives among the mud. She uses her cape to clean them before sheathing them back in her belt.
When she finally is in front of the lifeless Golem, she sees its face, where her despaired kick hit. She kneels down, noticing the inscription on the creature's forehead. She doesn't understand the symbols, which are interrupted by a missing chunk of clay. She looks down at her boot, noticing said chunk still stuck on the tip.
"Magic," she concludes. "It must have been a rune."
She doesn't know how she knows that, or why. She doesn't know why the Golem wanted to kill her. She doesn't know why is she carrying a pair of throwing knives in her belt, or how she's skilled with them. She doesn't know where she is, or why is it empty. She doesn't even know who she is.
But standing over the fallen monster, she does know one thing; she's not defenseless.
She doesn't have to run anymore.
Author's Note
Story vaguely inspired in Kamandi and Shadow of the Colossus. Dedicated to the memory of Jack "The King" Kirby, and special shout out to Team ICO.
Chapter inspired in Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam. Dedicated to Carl Boese and Paul Wegener.
A special thanks to Nightwalker, Giz, Joelle Pellegrino-Arche, An-Twan Star, Mooncalf, VampDash and Captain Lunar. Thanks for putting up with me in this very weird year.
It seems I'm writing again. I'm not sure, really. All I know is that I got this in my head a couple of weeks ago, and now it exists in the written word. I can't assure anything else.
But, if you enjoyed the reading, please let me know in the comments. Oh, yeah. not even a year of block will prevent me from wanting to know my readers' thoughts.
Bring it on!
