Echoes of the Colossus

by DragonTamerOne

There were a lot of questions gone unanswered when Lord Emon and his followers left the Forbidden Lands. The ruins of an ancient civilization lay upon the cliffs; magic inhabits corners and niches. What happened long ago, to lead to all this, is lost from human memory. But it is not lost from all memory. When Dormin was vanquished by Lord Emon, something else awoke.

13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Tempered and Forged

Monolith set the soul forge down with a thunk, the metal scraping against the intricately-carved stone of the temple. Around them, the eternal flames burned stiffly in their braziers. The fires were brighter now, and the orange tongues seemed to lean inwards as they flickered, reaching for sources of magic.

Mono was staring at the slumped body of the small colossus, hands clasped tightly in front of her. With hesitant steps, she approached the beast, stopped before it, and just barely touched it with the palm of her hand.

"Why are we here for this one?" she asked.

"I have two more uses for this forge, and they involve this colossus," Monolith replied. "See, when I talked to your father, I made a couple...promises. He drives a hard bargain, that man, and he wasn't about to give me information without getting a benefit in return." She tapped the forge in a few places and it began to unfold, filling the room with buzzing.

"You're making me nervous," Mono said. "Just tell me what you're here to do."

Monolith faced the forge, resting a finger against her chin. "I have two choices. In order to let me borrow his soul forge, Lord Emon requested I do something for him in return, and I offered to bring him one of the colossi, and for the beast to become a guardian of his city. The offer was not thought through as well as it could have been, but with Seln in the form she is, transportation is no longer an issue. And logically, this smallest colossus would be the best suited for a city environment. Seeing how I destroyed the other two small colossi, I had but one choice."

"That sounds like my father," Mono mused. "So you must bring this colossus back to life?"

"I have to override its original magicks and reprogram them," the god replied. "I also have a few modifications I would like to make to the beast...and some repairs."

"You said you made a couple promises," the woman pressed. "I have heard only one."

Monolith took a deep breath, shutting her eyes. "Hear me out. How has the health of your infant been while I have been gone?"

Mono frowned, looking over her shoulder at the child. "His cough hasn't gotten worse...but he seems tired. As I watched your progress along the map, I noticed he got quieter and quieter. I spent time in the rooftop garden, and he usually loves waving and babbling at the birds, but it was like they no longer existed. He just stares at them."

"The extra memories his weakened body contains are of no good use to him," the god said. "They do nothing but sicken and confuse him, it seems. And I think you and I can both agree, he does not belong in this infantile body."

"I guess not," Mono muttered. "But he broken nature's most sacred rule. Some repercussion seems deserved."

"The outcome that resulted in this," Monolith gestured to the infant, "is one of many outcomes that were possible. Dormin chose this and made it so, knowing he was cursing an infant to a life of two minds. Imagine being so vulnerable, and at the same time, living with the scarred memories of another person. Deserved, maybe, it is, but allowing such cruelties makes you no better than the evildoer."

Mono was quiet, staring down at the ground with a bowed head. Finally, she spoke quietly, "As far as my father is concerned, I am dead, so I guess I am no longer under his jurisdiction." She looked up at the god, eyes hardening. "I can make my own decisions now. I no longer have a noble family to bring shame upon, only myself." She looked away. "I would like it very much if you could bring him back."

"And that I can," Monolith replied, "but one cannot simply snap their fingers and create something as complex as a human body. This will have to be a many-stepped process. And the first step…" she inhaled, shutting her eyes. "I must extract the soul and memories from the child. And a body without a soul will not continue to live."

Mono inhaled sharply, expression horrified. "You want to kill a baby?" She took a step back, eyebrows lowering. "What kind of monster are you?"

"I'm not killing anyone!" Monolith protested. "I'm transferring a soul from one form to another! How is that murderous?"

"Well, you're doing it without his permission!" the woman yelled back. "That seems pretty murderous to me!"

"I can't ask him for permission, he's a baby!" Monolith replied hotly, flattening her ears. "And even if I could, I doubt he would understand the situation. You certainly don't seem to."

Mono stopped, mouth hanging open. She dropped her gaze, slumping her shoulders. "I...maybe I don't. You are a god, after all, and I am just...a human. You have hundred of years of experience and knowledge that I will never obtain." She looked away. "I hate the idea of what you're doing. But if he won't suffer because of it, then I guess, as his caretaker, I can give you permission."

Monolith bowed her head. "He will not suffer. Soul forges were designed for this kind of work, my lady. Did you father ever tell you why these machines were invented?"

Mono shook her head. "No, of course not. I had to focus on my etiquette and studies; it would do no good to fill my mind with magic and sorcery."

Monolith rested a hand on the warm cloth covering the forge. "These machines are ancient. In past times, they were used to create god-touched weapons. A god's weapon is an extension of their soul, a part of them that always exists, even when unseen. There was a time when a class of human warriors existed, elite beyond anything that exists today. The gods created for them powerful weapons, each of which contained a small fraction of the human's soul. In that way, the weapons could never be destroyed as long as their owner lived, and they could call them to hand, just like I do with my blade." She held out her hand and the hilt appeared in her grasp, firelight dancing off the pale metal. She set the sword onto the ground next to the forge. "As with all things magic, more than one use came of them. People realized that the forges could handle more than just fractions of souls. The could handle whole human souls, and some even god souls." She paused reflectively. "Some of these things were found out by accident…but that's besides the point. Humans came to the gods, asking for new bodies. It started with families, begging for us to save their dying children. And then came the sick, and the old, and the cursed. They had nothing to lose, so they came to us."

Mono's eyes were huge. "But...but does that not break the most sacred laws of nature, which you gods also hold dear?"

Monolith shook her head. "Nobody died and was brought back to life. But indeed, people began to see that side of it as well. Some of the gods turned against the practice, and many human governments outlawed it. But even still, soul forges were used for such acts, whether by the gods or by powerful sorcerers. It became a dark art, almost. But then, the war came...and the rest is history. The last use of a soul forge was probably by Lord Emon's ancestors, creating the colossi and sealing Dormin's souls inside."

Mono looked away. "I can tell you're trying to make me feel better about this. But I don't." She reached over her shoulder and brought around the bundled infant, staring at his face. "It seems so wrong to subject a child to something so alien. And no matter how I think of it, he'll be gone, as if he died…"

"You shouldn't be here for this," the god replied bluntly. "It will do no good for your health."

Mono nodded dumbly, eyes falling to the ground. "I will go wait outside. I hope you can do this quickly."

Monolith nodded stiffly. "You are acting for the greater good, my lady."

"What is good and what is not will always be subjective," the woman replied, head bowed. "You may think this good, but I see it not so."

"I guess we must agree to disagree," the god said. "But you can trust I would never bring harm to someone so innocent."

Mono nodded again, the same hollow movement. "Just...take him and get it over with." She thrust the infant towards the god, refusing to look at either of them. Monolith recoiled from the sudden wave of salty sadness and acrid anger, emotions bursting out from the woman with such ferocity they almost seemed physical. Mono was stiff as a board, head down and arms shaking. The god slowly reached out and took the child from her. As he left her arms, her whole body drooped and she started to back away, never looking up from the ground.

Monolith turned away, guilt wrapping itself around her heart. But it had to be done; she had made a promise. And this was for good, wasn't it?

She reached for the cloth and whisked it from the machine. The volcanic heat poured forth and she turned her back to it, sheltering the infant in her arms until the heat subsided. With one hand, she grasped and turned the set of runes to activate the forge. Just as it did before, it clanked and whirred, panels unfolding. The runes glowed white and the forge heated up once more as the two pyramids connected.

Monolith held out her hand and summoned her blade, point down. She inserted it into the forge's control panel and the machine hummed vigorously. The small, inverted pyramid bounced a little, stream of crackling energy oscillating.

"Seln," Monolith called, "can I have some light?"

"Of course!" the voice echoed from outside. There are a loud crackle and a ball of electricity shot through the mouth of the temple. It bounced to the ground and rolled about the floor, scorching the circle of runes around the forge. It got smaller as it went, until it was just a spark that flickered out within the next heartbeat.

So much faster than drawing or carving into the floor by hand, Monolith mused. She turned, extending her free hand towards the light from the outside. Moving her hand in a slow, swirling pattern, she called out to the sand of the small pond beyond. A trickle lifted from the earth and snaked its way up to the temple mouth, floating silently on the wind. She gathered the trickle into her palm, the grains floating just above her skin.

She held her hand up. "Seln?"

A bolt of lightning flashed through the temple, striking the swirling ball of sand. Monolith swirled her hand, the red-hot ball spinning like a top. The clap of thunder echoed off the stone walls, filling the temple with reverberations. The infant on her arm started crying weakly, face scrunched up in fear. Monolith quickly shushed it, ears flattening against her head. If Mono heard the child crying...she could sense the woman slipping farther and farther away from her, into her own mute disregard.

She uncurled her fingers. In her hand was a glass charm, shaped like a teardrop with a twisted top. It was faintly misty in color, but clear enough to see through. Through the top threaded a tiny hole, barely wide enough to be seen. With care, she placed the charm onto the forge's extrusion plate. With a few taps of the machine, the tunnel vibrated and shrank, constricting down to the charm's size.

"Will you be ok in there?" Seln yelled from the outside. "You know soul vessels are tricky business."

"I've done this before," Monolith replied. "And I feel like this forge has as well. Sixteen times."

She tapped a few runes on the right panel of the forge. It whirred, and the small pyramid slid down the side of the main body, coming to float at an angle just above the grounded plate. She hesitated, looking at the child in her arms.

No. This is for good. She had never batted an eye at soul transfers before. But to have such vehemence revealed to her in the face of Mono...she had never thought about how these magics could bring about such anger.

She ground her teeth together and set the child down on the plate, next to the flat plate of the inverted pyramid. As her warm touch receded, the infant started to cry weakly, arms flailing.

"Please, be quiet…" she whispered, face dejected. She took a step back towards her sword, standing upright in the control panel. The baby continued to cry, and she stopped. Sighing, she dropped her head and knelt. Taking the hilt of her sword in one hand, she placed the other across the infant. The touch calmed him, and he opened his eyes, staring up at the god.

"I'm doing this for you," she said quietly, feeling a lump in her throat. "You deserve your true body, not this one." She reached up and touched one claw to one of the child's horns. "Even if we can never get rid of these."

Squeezing her eyes shut, she pulled down on her sword and the forge began to glow.

Beams of white light reached out from the inverted pyramid, connecting with the infant's skin. The child's eyes went wide at the unknown sensation and he started to whimper. Monolith stroked his cheek with a finger, feeling the magics sparking off her own skin. If she remained in the path of the extraction, she could upset the entire process.

She pulled her hand away, grabbing onto her other bicep with lack of anything else to hold on to. The child protested, hands waving. The white light was slowly covering him, sparks dancing in bands across his skin. They moved forwards until they contacted each other on the far side, and then they began to recede.

Blue light began to mix in to the white, faint, pale color. The sparks receded further, pulling more strands from the tiny body. Slowly, his cries got quieter and his movements weaker. His hands stopped waving and he stared up at the ceiling with a vacant gaze.

Monolith looked away. It worked.

She twisted her sword and the white sparks jumped back into the pyramid. The blue light congealed into a ball atop the metal, which began to rise back up the main body of the forge. It returned to its original position and clicked into place, powerful beam surging forth once more between the two pyramids.

Monolith turned back to the infant on the extraction plate. He was still, laying atop his swadlings, skin pale as the cloth. She put her hand across his tiny chest, and felt no heartbeat.

She bowed her head. "I have fulfilled my part of the bargain, Lord Emon."

The constriction around her heart fell away. The infinity pact had been fulfilled; she had killed the infant that was once Wander.

The thick converter beam pulsed, turning blue. The color passed through much quicker than Seln's had, the soul in question now only a fraction of the air spirit's size. At least that part was easy.

Monolith moved her blade up the panel, activating the proper runes. The extrusion tunnel began to clank, white energy swirling inside of it. The floor was vibrating, dust shaking from the higher reaches of the temple. The light built until it was blinding. Then, a beam of pure blue shot forth from the tunnel, narrow like a laser. It contacted the glass charm with a zap; the object rocked in its position, threatening to roll backwards off the plate. Monolith smacked a rune and three metal prongs shot up from the plate, holding the charm in place.

I hate using the stabilizers...way too often we lose pieces of souls to those dastardly things. But it's better than losing the whole soul when the vessel rolls out of the beam…

The extruder was winding down, glow fading. Monolith left her position at the control panel and walked up to the charm. It was glowing blue on the inside now, blue with a core of yellow. She picked it up; it was warm like a sun-kissed stone.

It is done. She closed her fist around the charm and brought it to her chest, bowing her head as she did. Within the roar of the braziers around her, she took a moment of silence.

After the moment had passed, she lifted her head, eyes locating the dead body of the horned infant. As she watched, the horns blurred around the edges and turned to dust, black particles that drifted away on the wind. She felt the energy within the charm waver for a heartbeat, growing cold. But then the dust was gone, and the warmth returned.

She walked back to the control panel, resting her free hand on the pommel of her sword. "By the power the earth has invested in me, and by the magic energy I wield, I command this beast before me to return to life. Return, creature of the earth, being of my domain, and bow to your true master."

She thrust her blade forwards across the panel. Energy surged forth from within her own being, the feeling not unlike being struck by lightning, but in reverse. She reached her power down into the earth, feeling all the energy around her, and drew upon it. The energy passed through her blade and into the forge; the extrusion tunnel swelled, rattling. A burst of static shot from the side of the forge; Monolith ducked, barely dodging the blow, which struck some invisible barrier at the edge of the circle burned into the floor and burst into tiny sparks. Her swordpoint danced across the forge's panels, quickly redirecting energy away from the break. The extrusion tunnel glowed blinding white, and a ball of energy was shot into the still body of the colossus.

The forge emitted a large cloud of smoke and, with the sound of grinding gears, began to wind down, light and sound diminishing. Monolith lifted her sword off the control panel, adopting a defensive stance.

The colossus was up on its feet on the other side of the forge, shoulders hunched and head towards the ground, as if it was winded. Slowly, it lifted its head, iridescent blue eyes fixing on Monolith. She tensed, glaring back at it.

If this didn't work, and I have to fight it again...

Gingerly, the colossus lowered its head again. It slid its forefeet out and lowered its body into a subordinate position, nose nearly contacting the carved-stone floor.

"You may rise," Monolith ordered. The colossus slowly lifted itself up, eyes once again fixing on the god. Satisfied, she tapped a sequence of runes on the forge. It folded itself up, belching another cloud of smoke as it went. The tiny, dead body of the child was rolled off the panel, discarded by the forge as if it was nothing more than the scrap of cloth it was swaddled in.

Monolith winced. I guess sitting in storage for over two thousand years does no good for any kind of machine, magic or not. Hopefully, Lord Emon wouldn't be too angry.

She opened her hand, staring down at the glowing charm she held. She had enough secrets to keep from that man already.

She knelt and began to bundle the forge back up. Her eyes slowly drifted to the tiny, dead body cast off to the side, and she ground her teeth together, forcing herself to look away.

Does Mono want to see it again? Or will it bring her too much anguish? Humans have ceremonies for their dead, but that he is not! ...Right? She clutched the charm in her hand, feeling the warmth. He was in there, memories and soul. He was not dead.

She stood, head bowed. Walking up to the child, she knelt and lifted the tiny body. It was pale as a ghost and limp as a rag doll; it weighed almost nothing. The god shut her eyes tight. She could throw the body into the brazier; the eternal flames burned away everything, leaving nothing. Mono would never know; she could tell her the process destroyed the body. She wouldn't have to face her again, in all that anguish.

But I should at least give that choice to her to make, shouldn't I?

Grimacing, she lifted her head and faced the entrance of the temple.

"Mono," she called, "would you like to bury the child?"

No response came from outside. She looked away, grinding her teeth together. If the woman did not answer, what was the right thing to do?

Then, a faint voice drifted from outside, "That would be the respectful thing to do."

Monolith dipped her head. "As you wish." She pulled the swaddlings over the body, covering it from sight. Looking over her shoulder, she gestured for the colossus to follow her. It did so obediently, each step a heavy thunk against the carved-stone floor.

They emerged from the mouth of the temple, beams of sunlight spilling across them. Monolith blinked, eyes adjusting to the bright light. The clouds had receded yet further. She set the forge down and placed the small bundle on top of it, eyes searching the ground beyond.

Mono was sitting on the sand of the narrow beach around the still pond. She was facing away from the temple, arms wrapped around her knees. She didn't move as the god approached.

"I have this for you," the god said, holding out the charm. The woman slowly turned her head, one red-rimmed eye coming into view.

"What is it?" she asked quietly.

"Wander's essence, his soul and memories, are held inside here," Monolith replied. "Here, take it. It belongs more to you than to me."

The woman reached out slowly. Her shaking fingers wrapped around the glass, lifting it from the god's palm. She withdrew her arm and clasped her hands against her chest, eyes shut. A sob escaped her lips and she curled up into a ball again, forehead nearly touching her knees.

Monolith shut her eyes, calling into the earth. The ground below was rich in ores and long-buried godly metalwork, plunged into the ground by the cataclysmic war. She lifted a hand, drawing a snaking line of matter from the earth. The dirt split as the iron worm pushed itself to the surface and rose obediently, sunlight reflecting off of it. Monolith reached down and grabbed it, rotating her hand to coil the strand. She brushed the dirt from its surface, weaved it between her fingers, and pulled it tight. The strand cracked down its length, forming three strands. She twisted them into a braid and fired them with her energy; they glowed red momentarily as the impurities were scorched away and the strands fused into their more artistic form. She waved her hand over the metal and the heat dissipated instantly.

Mono looked back up at her, draw to the noise of her crafting. The god knelt, reaching out with the braided strand. She threaded it through the small hole in the top of the glass charm and bound the free ends together behind the woman's neck.

She took Mono's clasped hands in hers. "Carry him with you until you may be together again." Standing back up, she turned from the woman and walked away, back towards the forge. The colossus was standing stoically next to it, watching her as she approached.

"Let's fix you up," she said to the beast. She placed on hand on its face, between its eyes. It stared at her unblinkingly. She frowned, staring back at it.

Without a real soul inside of you...you are just a construct, without any essence of your own.

Stone crumbled from the natural rock faces around them, peeling away in small chunks. Monolith gathered them to her and laid them over the colossus' exposed fur, replacing armor once lost. The colossus' stone was green-grey with moss; this new armor was red sandstone, starkly different in color and free from the wear of time. It intertwined with the old, red-orange stripes reaching out into the grey and green. All of its chips, cracks, and breaks were repaired, turning the beast into a subtle mosaic.

Monolith drew her hand down the beast's spine, feeling where the magic was bundling under its back. No use in having the weak point in the same place...That makes fighting it too easy. She urged the magic to reform in another place. She drew it by her hand to the colossus' left flank, then up to its armpit. With a surge of her own power, she shrank the knot until the weakpoint was as small as she could make it. Satisfied, she stepped back, wiping dust off her hands.

There was a shuffling noise behind her; Mono had stood. "You never told me the second promise you made," the woman said quietly.

The god looked over her shoulder. "Why does it matter?"

"Of course it matters," the woman said darkly, "because obviously, you don't want to tell me."

Monolith inhaled through her teeth, grimacing. "I don't want to upset you. The promise has been fulfilled now, and nothing will change it."

"I'd like to know it anyways," the woman replied, glaring.

"So you can just be more angry at me?" Monolith asked, turning away. "It's not worth it, Mono."

"TELL me, you ridiculous creature!" the woman yelled, balling up her fists. "What did you do?"

"I made and infinity pact!" the god yelled back, ears flattening against her head. "Lord Emon wouldn't give me the location he sent the Ancient Sword to unless I did. I agreed to, word for word, 'kill the infant that was Wander'. And he agreed, so I had to fulfill my part of the bargain, or die."

Mono's hands dropped, gaze going vacant and horrified. "You agreed...to kill a child?"

"Oh, for all that is holy!" Monolith roared, clapping her hands over her face. "I haven't killed anyone, when will you get that into your head? I did what I had to, damnit! It was what needed to be done to get to Dormin, to destroy him!" she threw her hands down and snarled at the woman, speaking through bared teeth. "Once again, you humans only see what is in front of you! You never see the bigger picture, never!" She marched back to the soul forge and plucked the small bundle from the top of it, meaning to tear a hole in the ground and have the earth swallow it up so she didn't have to face it anymore. But as soon as her hands were cradling the rough cloth, she couldn't bring herself to do it anymore.

Argh! She threw her head back, glaring into the glowing sky. Her whiskers drooped past her eyes, twitching as they sensed the acrid smell of her own rage and grief. She shut her eyes. I can't end this. Why can't I end this?

Something touched her chest. She opened her eyes to see one of Seln's massive forefins reaching down to her. The giant spirit had placed the tip of her fin against the top of her stone chestpiece, and had coiled her body around in the sky above, looking down upon her through three liquid eyes. "You're right to be upset by this, Monolith," the god said quietly. "You care about your goals, and about the end you're trying to reach. But you care about what you're doing to get there too. It's ok to be upset by what had to be done." The spirit brought another forefin down and touched the earth before Mono. "You're both right. You both care. But one of you only sees the journey, and the other the destination. You have to see both. It makes you a better person to be that way, to see both the journey and the destination."

Monolith stared up at the air spirit. "And I guess you would be the expert on journeys."

"Journeys are about more than just travelling," Seln replied. "You know this as well as I do."

The god shut her eyes and let her head drop. It didn't make it very far before her chin encountered the top of Seln's fin, the stop jarring her teeth a little. She grumbled inaudibly and pushed the fin away with her free hand. Seln withdrew, floating a little higher in the sky with concern shining in her eyes.

Monolith stared down at the bundle in her hand and sighed. "You said you would like to bury him."

Mono looked up, hands gripping the glass charm. "Y-yes. I would like to."

The god strode up to her, never lifting her eyes to look at her. She held out the cloth. "Take him. Bury him where you think will bring you the most peace."

The woman held out her shaking hands and accepted the bundle. "I...do you know the tree we passed on the way here? The fruiting tree, standing in a patch of green within the desert?"

Monolith nodded. "I know of where you speak."

"I would like to bury him there," Mono said, looking down at the bundle. "It is a spot of beauty hidden within the sands. I cannot think of anyplace more peaceful."

The god bowed her head. "Lead us there, my lady. Put him to rest however you see proper. I will say no more on this."

"As you wish," Mono said cooly, turning away. The dejected god watched her go, crossing the sandbar she had risen from the pond. Seln floated upwards, her massive shadow drifting out of the canyon. She turned, ripples travelling down her ribbon-like body, and slowly floated away. The god was left alone, soul forge and colossus sitting statically behind her.

It wasn't worth it fighting with her. But why can she not see the end beyond it all? Will she ever? And if not, is that something I can accept about her? Something I can accept about all of humanity?

She walked back to the soul forge and picked it up, feeling the warmth of magic against her hands. The colossus' head turned slightly, gaze following her. She looked back at it, seeing only empty magic swirling in its eyes.

And so, they buried the infant. Monolith dug the tiny grave and Mono set the body inside, kneeling before the site with tears in her eyes. Seln floated overhead, nose tipped towards the ground. Agro stood just beyond the tree; her head was lowered, almost as if she too was mourning. The only creature who stood without emotion was the colossus; it remained where Monolith had ordered it to stop, unmoving. Its eyes never left her.

Mono uttered a burial rite, some short, human ceremony that Monolith felt completely disconnected from. No souls had been lost, no beings had truly left this world. No spirit needed safe passage, no afterlife was being sought. Why did she still say these things?

It's not worth it…

Once the woman had completed her speech, Monolith rolled the soil back over the grave, filling it in and creating a small mound. With another wave of her hand, she plucked a stone from the earth and settled it at the head of the mound. Mono had said that humans liked to mark their graves with many different things nowadays, but for this, just an old stone would do.

"What do you want me to write on it?" the god asked, words drifting from her mouth as if they were under someone else's control.

"May you finally find peace," the woman replied. Robotically, Monolith knelt before the grave and reached out to the rock. With one claw she carved out the words, stone melting away before her touch. Smooth, black script was left behind.

"Do you need some time?" the god asked. "You humans have a lengthy mourning process you go through, right?"

The woman stood up. "Some of us do, but everyone handles grief in different ways." She wiped her eyes. "You are ready to rush off to your next destination, aren't you?"

Monolith's whiskers twitched, sensing the woman's dull emotions. "Yes I am, in fact. The Ancient Sword must be retrieved before any of Dormin's underlings gain enough power to figure out where it is, and take it for themselves."

"Lord Emon sent that sword to the place he deemed the safest," Mono replied. "Wherever that may be, I know he would not take chances with it. Where did he send it to, anyways?"

"An ancient, cursed monastery," the god told her. "Somewhere he believes the rest of the world knows nothing about."

"He was probably right about that," Mono sighed. "It was certainly somewhere he never told me about."

"I think you should - well, I guess I should let you choose, " Monolith stuttered. "Would you like to come with me?"

The woman sighed and dropped her head. "Part of me is curious. But part of me is still weighed down. I do not think I am ready to embark on a journey potentially so dangerous. And I would just slow you down."

The god dipped her head. "Fair enough. I will be leaving the colossus with you for now, if that is alright. I will order it to remain in the Shrine and it will not bother you."

"That's fine," Mono waved her hand dismissively. "Do as you like."

Monolith turned to the colossus. "Go to the Shrine and wait inside. If Mono requires your assistance or protection, you must help her." The colossus stood stiffly, turned, and started to walk away, each step thunking heavily against the ground.

"Can I come with you?" Seln asked, floating closer to the ground. "Please? I can be really helpful, and I have never seen a haunted monastery before!"

"You can come," Monolith told her. "You won't be able to go inside any buildings, though."

"Of course I know that!" the giant spirit scoffed. "I'm aware of how large I am. I just want to see it!"

"Very well," the god sighed. She walked over to the soul forge and picked it up. "I need to drop this off in the Shrine. Then we can go."

She began to walk towards the Shrine, holding the cloth-wrapped forge gingerly in her hands; after three uses, the machine was beginning to get uncomfortably hot. It would need to cool down for a few days before it could be used safely again. She didn't want to melt Lord Emon's forge.

"Are we leaving now?" Seln asked, zooming overhead. "You should fly with me! I'm ready! And I'm fast, you'll see!"

"As I've seen," Monolith replied, slightly impatient. "But you have no idea where we're going."

"You can, uh, navigate, right?" Seln suggested, tilting a little in the sky. One forefin dropped close to Monolith, close enough she probably could have jumped and grabbed it. "You just tell me where to go!"

"We need to approach this place with caution," the god continued, frowning up at the air spirit. "As I can recall, you tend to just...barrell into things."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeease," Seln begged. "Come on, Monolith, give me a chance! I'll be really good. And you want to get to this place fast, don't you?"

"Time is of the essence," the god admitted. "So we're just going to go to monastery, that's it. No side trips, no getting distracted by sparkly clouds or whatever. You got it?"

Seln scoffed, rolling back upright. "Since when were you under the impression I got distracted by sparkly clouds?"

Monolith hunched her shoulders a little, feeling suddenly self-conscious. "Well, I guess I just made that up. I'm not exactly in a great mood."

"Riding with me will make you feel better," Seln promised. "I'll get you to this sword and then we'll kick Dormin's butt!"

"That certainly would make me feel better," Monolith admitted. "Alright, Seln. You've got a deal."

"Yippee!" the spirit crowed, body rippling. "Spooky old monastery, here we come!"