Wardenheart

Gold

Its shining majesty now made alive, the golden statue of the knight stepped down from his pedestal on to the marble ground with a booming noise that echoed throughout the chamber. Its form, like that of a man encased entirely in golden plate armor, advanced toward me, each heavy footstep thundering across the marble toward my position purposefully. There was no way that this metal man was a friend. I sensed the intent to kill, even on an expressionless face such as his. His was a regal appearance, as if a king made of gold and steel had been brought in to being.

"I am Nemenera, Mechanical Guardian of Thalor!" It roared in a deafening, accusatory voice, still advancing toward me. "Who goes there?"

Fear threatened to grip me and never let go, but I steeled myself and answered.

"I am Theris, the Bloodied!" I shouted back with every bit of confidence I could muster. "What business do you have with me?"

He stood in front of me now, circling me as if to size me up. I did the same, following this circular pattern on the opposite side of this imaginary curvature.

"Why did you come here, you whelp?" He growled at me, his deep voice vibrating harshly in my ears.

"Where is Jolly?" I replied. "The other man who came in here with me."

"Dead." Nemenera replied. "Or soon to be. It matters not. Your death is the most imminent."

With the suddenness of a clap of thunder, Nemenera leapt through the air at me, striking down with a golden spear that had seemingly appeared from nowhere. Instinctively I raised my sword to block, and as his weight and his power came crashing down on me from the heavens, it was all I could do to push back against his sheer weight alone.

I was face-to-face with him, and as he looked down on me, I could smell him: a mix of blood and metal, whether it was his blood or not was unimportant, but this clinch was not a good position.

I roared in his face and pushed him off of me with all of my might. He stumbled and slid backward with a piercing screech noise against the marble, but he quickly recovered and lunged forward with his spear. I had only a split-second to dodge out of the way of the attack, but even as I rolled to the left, the spear slung around in a circle, catching me in the side.

Its blade slid in to me like a hot knife through butter, as if my armor was not even there. I howled in pain, trying to extricate the harsh blade out of the space between my ribs and hip. He, however, did that for me. The spear shot backward suddenly like the collapsing of a telescope, and formed a small dagger in Nemenera's gauntleted hand.

I was seriously injured beyond a shadow of a doubt .A reasonably sized puddle of my lifeblood was now there on the marble, staining it red. As long as I drew breath, I would not stop. I would not fail.

"Seems you're having a bloody good time!" it growled at me. "Maybe I can cut a little deeper next time, you mangy dog."

"You will not strike me a second time." I retorted definitely, clutching my side, but when I noticed no inward parts trying to spill out of me, I grew in confidence. "Prepare to meet your doom."

Inside me, it was as if a valve had opened. One that let flow through my entire being a feeling of unbridled fire, of a fury I had only needed a few times before. A power that I had trained to harness at will. It was an old technique, but one I now needed. This would be over quickly.

I swiftly lunged forward at him, striking downward with the tip of my sword. Any hit to the head would be enough to shake up any ordinary man, even while wearing a helmet. As I struck down, screaming insults, I sought to cleave through his golden face, and to make a full cut through him.

Nemenera recoiled in shock, pain, or a mix of the two, clutching his helmet as if he had been gravely wounded. I used this opportunity to strike again, to attack his open torso. I kicked in the center of his golden chest plate, hoping to send him sprawling on the floor. From there, I could finish him.

Yet, that attack did not faze him in the slightest, only pushed him backward in pure futility. Away from his face did his gauntlets come, and across his eye-slit was now a cross-cut, glowing red.

I lunged in for another attack, seeking to behead him entirely. One cut across the neck with this blade that could pierce armor, and I was a free, living man.

But his spear, that blasted spear, telescoped outward just in time to catch my blade mid-swing. From there, I felt a cold metal fist connect sharply with my face.

Something was broken. I could hardly see anymore, all I knew was that he was going to get me. I tried to breathe through my nose, but no air went through. All I could see was red covering my vision like a cloth draped over my face. When I felt Nemenera's spear pass through my guts and out the other side, I tried to pull it out of me. Oh, gods, I tried.

I felt no pain now, only fear. Only regret that I would never see my love again. I closed my eyes one last time, picturing her face. I imagined her smile, and I prayed silently that I would see her again in the Great Beyond.

I had missed so many opportunities to tell her that I loved her. I had written her so many poems, so many letters, so many soliloquies that I never got to share with her. So many days where we could have simply held each other were now lost. So many kisses I had shamelessly stolen, and so many more were what I needed.

Margo, my brave knight, I love you.

Please come back to me.