Joey and Serenity both waited with baited breaths to behold the danger and new scenery of the savage lands named the Betwixt, but after a few paces, they were disappointed.

"It's just more of the same," Joey said petulantly. A bird whooped from a drooping tree, as if to corroborate his point.

Serenity nodded and tried to hide her disappointment, if only for Joey's sake. "We'll see something eventually, I know it." She patted his shoulder.

Eventually came sooner than either expected. Mere moments later, the road their wagon followed bent into a small grove, whose trees lined and arched over the path. Patterns adorned the packed dirt as sunlight filtered through the canopy, barely enough to pierce the intermediate darkness. The whole scene was eerily sublime, and Serenity waited with cautious excitement to enter the makeshift tunnel. When the wagon entered the grove and nothing happened, she sighed out a breath she hadn't been aware she was holding. She visibly relaxed as she took in the new surroundings. Every so often, as the wind blew through the branches, she could hear tinkling in the distance, and a few times she caught silver strung up through the leaves.

"You know," said Joey, loosening her rapt attention a little, "right before the harvest season, we do the same thing." He pointed to a particular string of silver bells.

"'One to keep the grimgos out;

one for bounties all;

One to make my mother pout:

the last for rain to fall.'

That's what all the kids say when we're hanging the bells up in the trees and over the doors and whatnot."

Serenity laughed at the cute rhyme, which reminded her of some of the ones her mother taught her in childhood. "What's a grimgo?" she asked absently.

Joey shuddered. "Nasty little things," he spat. "They steal food when no one's looking, which tends to get a lot of farmhands in trouble, I'll tell ya. They don't like the sound of bells – that's why everyone puts 'em up just before harvest."

"You think whoever put up these bells was trying to keep grimgos out, too?"

Joey shrugged and gave the bells another glance. "Maybe. It's okay though, they're not in season yet. Someone probably just forgot to take the bells down. This is a pretty remote place."

They soon exited the grove and were greeted by warm, full light once again. Once his eyes adjusted to the brightness, Joey yanked his reigns, urging the Urodelas to stop, so that he could scrutinize a signpost marking the fork in the road.

"Hand me that map there," he ordered Serenity. She gave it to him, and he quickly unfurled it and held it up in front of him. "According to this," and he shook the parchment for emphasis, "there's a town in the east with a rest stop. Doesn't look that far." He pointed out the eastern route to Serenity and traced it with his finger until he hit a small square indicating a town center. "Once we get there, we can let the Urodelas stop and eat."

Serenity nodded. She wholly trusted Joey with the navigation, if only because she did not know this world as well as he. Joey grinned and urged the lizards forward. Once the pace had returned to its former monotony, Serenity turned to her companion. "So," she began slowly.

"So...?"

She suddenly found the hem of her shirt very interesting. "I was just thinking about what you said to Solomon before he chose you for the quest, and, well...can I ask you something?" She looked up from under her lashes, afraid he would deny her.

He tensed up, knowing just what Serenity was referring to. It was only natural that Serenity be curious about his words, but a shot of nervous guilt raced through him at the thought of retelling the story nonetheless. Oh, well. He was a man, and he would own up to his mistakes. Even – and especially – to this costly one. "Shoot."

"W-what exactly did you mean that it was your fault the king got sick?"

Joey smiled despite himself. "It's kind of a long story. Sure you wanna hear it all?" he teased. Serenity nodded resolutely. "Fine." He took an imperceptible breath and began. "Many moons ago, Yug – I mean, his Highness – began visiting all of the lands under his kingdom, at least once every quarter-cycle. He called it the Grand Tour. The people loved it, for he would travel to even the remotest cities and smallest villages to see them. Once there, the city would throw a huge banquet in his honor, and everyone was invited to the festivities. The next day, he would inspect the governors and lords and infrastructure and all that to make sure everything was tip-top. Believe you, me, the people loved it because everyone had to be on their best behavior, but the lords sure didn't! Anyway, he had fun, the people enjoyed it, everyone had a good time. But something happened last Tour that stopped everything.

"Last quarter, the King chose me as his personal security since I never got to see beyond the palace and inner territories before. He told Solomon that it was for my real-world training as an Acolyte, and the old man actually bought it! So, we got to visit some of the towns, celebrate, eat, dance, listen to the officials drone on and on about how perfectly they were running things, the whole shebang. When we were done with the inner territories, we went to the first of the outlying towns. The first night we spent there was also our last.

"See, when we got there, we heard tons of rumors about a visiting druid in the local forest. Of course, the two of us were interested in seeing this for ourselves. So, we snuck out that night to check it out. We blended in with all the other teens doing the same thing. But when we got to the edge of the forest, they all scattered. We didn't think much of it at the time; we just jumped right in, sticking close together so we wouldn't get lost in the dark. After a while, his Highness saw a blue light in the distance. We chased after it, hoping to find the druid, but what we found was a curse." He spat the word.

"Curse?" Serenity asked for clarification, for in our world curses are intangible things.

Joey nodded. "A curse is the residue of a spell performed by a strong magician," he said, reciting from his apprentice textbook. Never did he think that Solomon was right about it coming in handy. "I was okay, but the king..." Joey sighed. "The king was knocked out cold for the rest of the night and most of the following morning. I had to call on Solomon to ask for advice, and he told me to bring him back to Chatenoire,the castle. That night, he fell into his first fever."

Serenity took in the story, but something just did not make sense to her. "I still don't see how it was all your fault," she said.

Joey glanced at her. "Don't you see?" he said. "If I had only kept him inside that night..." He sighed. "But I didn't. I let my curiosity cloud my judgment, and he is suffering for it."

Serenity threw her arm around his shoulder. "It can't be all your fault, Joey," she said. "After all, I was the one who passed along my fever. It's my fault, too."

Joey gave her a small smile. As kind as it was for Serenity to try and comfort him, he knew the truth. It was his fault, his burden, and he would be damned if someone else would bear the brunt of it. "Thanks," he said.

They spent the next several minutes in comfortable silence. They noticed the tall wild grass lining the sides of the road start to thin. A wooden fence appeared as they rode along, encircling a small farmstead. There was a barn on the edge of the farm, its windows and doors boarded shut and paint peeling from broken panels. The rows were filled with withered stalks that were doubled over until they were only knee-high. Serenity watched the scenery as it passed and saw a string of bells over a doorway on the barn.

"Looks abandoned," Joey said, nodding to a rusted draft plough.

They continued on until they found another property, this time an empty stockyard. Again, the place looked abandoned, and again Serenity found the entrances of the main house laced with silver bells. Neither traveler spoke; instead, they swallowed their mounting unease and went on along their way. After passing a few more tracts of land, the properties began getting smaller and closer together until they merely resembled homes and yards, but they were no more populated than the previous properties.

"This is starting to get creepy," Joey said. His hands faltered a moment in directing the Urodelas, and the cart jolted forward. "Heh, sorry," he said sheepishly.

Serenity silently forgave him. "Same here," she said. The sight of yet another dilapidated house trimmed in silver bells gave her goose bumps. She looked away from it as they passed but returned her attention when she heard a muffled clanging, like metal striking metal. "Did you hear that?"

Joey nodded. "Maybe there's someone home after all," he said. Without pause, he directed the Urodelas through the rusted gates of the yard and parked in front of the house. The clanging had gotten louder and fell into a steady rhythm. Joey jumped out of the wagon, petting each draft beast as he made his way to the other side to help Serenity down. Together they walked to the front door, each guessing what could have been causing the noise.

Serenity knocked on the door, and it fell open, swaying slightly in the breeze. She peeked inside and saw the dark foyer and dusty floor. She turned to Joey and shook her head.

"Then where is that noise coming from?" he shouted above the clanging. He tilted his head, trying to catch the sound. It was coming from behind the house. "C'mon!" He tugged on Serenity's sleeve and dashed off the porch and around the corner. In the backyard was an open smithy. (Joey knew this; Serenity thought that it was quite a large furnace.) There were dozens of metal works (weapons and tools alike) strewn about the workshop haphazardly. A hunched figure stood before a mighty anvil, striking a glowing rod of hot metal with a hammer – this was the source of the noise. "Excuse me," Joey said, but the figure did not appear to hear him. Joey cleared his throat and tried again. "Excuse me!"

The figure's hand faltered in mid-air. Rather than strike the molten metal again, it brought the hammer to its side and looked over at the approaching duo. Visitors here? How peculiar.

Joey stopped in his tracks when the figure turned to face them, revealing under its mass of ash-blond hair the bold Emeth etched across its forehead. Serenity stopped, too, and looked at him questioningly.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly so that the smith couldn't hear her.

"It's a Golem," he replied, equally soft. Before she could ask, he clarified, "A summoned servant. It's not human."

While Joey narrowed his eyes in suspicion, Serenity returned her attention to the subject at hand, fascinated by the prospect of encountering her first non-human being!

The smith in question set its hammer down and looked from Serenity, meeting her gaze briefly, to Joey. "Can I help you?" it asked monotonously. It had been ages since it spoke to people, so it couldn't quite find the correct inflection that usually accompanied those words.

Joey's facial expression hardened. "We have traveled a long distance," he answered stonily. "Our draft beasts require rest and water."

The Golem nodded before wiping its hands on the apron it wore and walking toward the ramshackle house. "Bring the beasts around back," it called over its shoulder and continued walking inside.

Joey nodded curtly before beckoning for Serenity to follow him. Once they were in the front yard again, he detached the wagon from the carriage and handed the reigns to Serenity. She looked down nervously at the ropes, then at the Urodelas, whose thrashing heads looked more violent by the second. It wasn't soon enough that Joey took the reins again and began urging the lizards to follow him. Serenity sighed in relief and fell into step beside him.

"So what exactly is a Golem?" she asked.

Joey shuddered slightly. "They are wooden or stone effigies brought to life by strong dark magic," he explained. "They swear to serve their creators for the rest of their existence."

Serenity nodded. "So shouldn't this Golem's master be around here somewhere?" She looked around as though the very query would make the person appear; of course, it did not.

"Yeah. I've never seen a Golem without its master. Strange." And he said nothing more about it. The Golem itself made Joey wary (as he usually was around dark magic), so not getting to meet its creator was no loss for him. He just wanted to make sure the Urodelas were well rested and get out as soon as possible.

When they reached the backyard again, Serenity saw that the Golem was emptying a bucket of water into a makeshift trough against one of the walls of the smithy. It turned in time to see the duo approach, its purple eyes settling blankly on the giant lizards behind the humans. It supposed such strange creatures were in order for the even stranger pair.

"Please," it said to Joey as he pulled the Urodelas closer, "rest your beasts here." It didn't hesitate to help Joey shackle the animals and encourage them to drink. It looked up at the teenagers. "You two must be tired from your journey. Follow me into the house."

Serenity obeyed, which encouraged Joey to do the same. They entered through a back door, and Serenity had to suppress a cough at the dust that swirled around in the wake of the swinging door. Sunlight filter through the narrow slits in the curtains on all the windows, and through the dim light Serenity saw the old furniture, mildewed walls, and broken picture frames. So transfixed she was by her surroundings that she bumped into a low-hanging silver bell over the doorway to the dining room. "Oh!" she said in surprise before ducking underneath it.

"My apologies," the Golem said, "I have not gotten around to removing the grimgo bells yet." It gestured towards the table. "Sit." As soon as the two had settled into their seats, the Golem left through yet another doorway. Momentarily, it brought back a pitcher of some pink liquid, a couple of glasses, and a platter of freshly sliced bread and jams. It placed them between the teens. "Eat," it said simply.

"Won't you join us?" Serenity asked politely.

The servant shook its head. "I do not require food or drink. I merely exist to serve."

"Then sit with us," she insisted. "Please." She nodded to the seat beside her as she poured herself a drink. The Golem hesitated but took up Serenity's offer. As soon as it sat down, Serenity asked, "So, do you have a name?"

It was silent for a long moment, and even Joey looked up from his snack to regard the thing. "My master named me Marik," it spoke at last. "But that was a while ago."

Serenity quirked an eyebrow. "Really? What happened to your master?" she asked.

"He left," Marik stated simply, "just like the rest of the town."

She nodded. That certainly explained the creepy, abandoned homesteads they had seen earlier. "What happened?"

It shrugged. "Food kept vanishing. At first, they thought it was the grimgos staying later than usual, so everyone hung up more bells, hoping to remind the nasty things to leave. Then, people – especially small children – started disappearing, too. They tried hunting down whatever was behind it, to no avail. Some wanted to forge a protection charm –"

"What's that?"

"An enchanted stone or gem at the center of a town or city that protects it from dark sorcery and magical creatures. But the town is too spread out for the charm to work properly. Besides, since it doesn't belong to any of the four kingdoms, they would have had to find an extremely powerful mage to do it. Even he who created me could not do it. In the end, the townspeople thought it best to just leave."

Joey could not imagine how much fear the citizens must have felt to abandon their homes completely like this. He had definitely taken his security behind the Kingdom walls for granted. "Why didn't you go with them?" he asked Marik indifferently.

"My master did not will it, and so I remain here to finish my job."

"Which is...?"

"To smith and craft, sunrise to sunset." Marik smirked. "And to treat the occasional guest."

Serenity had lost her appetite for the (surprisingly sweet) bread. Packing up and leaving home for self-preservation's sake was one thing, but how could someone just forsake the very thing he created? It did not feel right to the girl, but she said nothing.

"If that is all," Marik continued, breaking Serenity out of her reverie, "then I will return to work. Stay as long as you like, and please make yourselves comfortable." He stood, gave them a curt nod, and left the room. It wasn't long before the clanging outside resumed.

Serenity drank in silence and absently watched Joey finish the loaf of bread. "S'pose they have any raw meat in the kitchen, there?" Joey spoke at last.

"I doubt it," she replied.

"Yeah, you're right. Doesn't look like the place has been stocked for months. I'm surprised it had this much." He waved a hand over the now-empty platter. "Oh, well, I suppose I'll feed the Urodelas out of the stores we brought." He rose. "After that, we can leave."

"Wait," Serenity said with a sigh. "I feel bad just leaving Marik here alone."

Joey's eyes narrowed. "Why? It's just a Golem. It can't feel like we can. Its place is here, where it was ordered to stay." He crossed his arms, daring her to defy.

"But what a pathetic existence," Serenity persisted. She looked Joey in the eye. "Imagine if your king had ordered you to do some errand in the castle and then picked up and left without saying a word to you, and all you could do was keep working, hoping he would someday return?"

Joey hesitated. He rolled his eyes but dropped his arms to his sides. "Like I said, Golems don't feel." He turned on his heel and left the dining room.

But Serenity was not put out yet. She leapt up to follow her companion as he went to the front of the house towards the front yard. "Either way," she said, "it is a shame to let any moving, talking...thing be alone for the rest of its existence."

"What would you have us do, then?" Joey asked rhetorically. "Invite him along with us?"

Serenity smiled smugly. "That's a wonderful idea."

"Wait, Serenity, I was jok–!"

"It's okay, I'll ask him!" She didn't wait for Joey's response. Instead, she ran to the back door and into the yard. Joey joined her momentarily, desperate to see how exactly this fiasco would go down. "E-excuse me!" Serenity called over Marik's hammering. The Golem paused, looked at the intruder's face, and dropped the hammer in much the same fashion it had done earlier.

"How can I help you?" it asked.

"It's just..." Serenity began but could not find the words quickly enough to finish. The thought of inviting Marik along their quest seemed fantastic in her head, but now she just felt silly. "Well, Joey and I were wondering if you'd like to come with us?" Joey scoffed at his being included in this entreaty. "You know, instead of wasting away here."

Marik's eyes widened in surprise. Never had it thought of leaving; after all, how could it? "That is flattering, miss, but I cannot leave the smithy."

"Why not?"

"Because I am bound by contract to stay."

Serenity huffed in indignation. She did not see what a piece of paper had to do with any of this. "Well, what would you have to do to break this contract?"

Again, Marik was shocked into silence. A wayward fantasy or two would occasionally float through its daily musings of severing its contract and flying off to the distant lands of imagination, but those dreams always died with the fire in its furnace at night. And now...and now this chance encounter with a strange girl and her companion would change the impossible to reality. Numbly, it pointed to the word on its forehead. "This is my contract," it said. "You break it by erasing the first E."

Serenity nodded her understanding. "And then what?"

"I would no longer be a Golem," it replied.

"What would you be?" she asked.

The question weighed heavily with the servant. What would it be, indeed? Marik knew that it was more precocious than any ordinary stone, if its animation weren't evidence of that already. However, was Marik sentient enough to qualify as human? Could it become he? It didn't know, but one thing was certain: a chance at life, however slim, was worth more than a safe eternity in solitude, and if it could not survive the severance, then so be it. "I don't know," it answered simply.

Serenity gulped, terrified at the thought of destroying the pitiful thing. Joey remained motionless beside her, content to let her ponder this moral dilemma alone. She looked into Marik's eyes once more, and when it nodded back to her, she reached out a trembling hand to his forehead. With just enough pressure, she carefully, slowly, rubbed the first E away. When it had been completely erased, she drew her hand back, and the remaining word meth began to glow like the embers in the Golem's furnace.

A searing pain ran through Marik's body, starting at the letters on his forehead and coursing through him like an artificial blood flow. He cowed in the presence of agony, dropping to his knees as he tried to see and think clearly. And then, like a drop from a leaky faucet, a thought occurred to him: he could feel pain. The thought alone was distraction enough from the sensation, and his elation eventually replaced it. When it was over, he chuckled to himself before the sound became a clear and booming laugh. He stood and rushed to take Serenity's hands into his own.

"Thank you," he said, a grin plastered to his face. "I could never repay this kindness. If it would please you, I'd like to accept your offer to travel with you."

Serenity opened her mouth to accept, but was surprised to hear Joey speak first. "You now have the world at your fingertips, and you want to travel with us?" His apathetic tone did not completely bely his curiosity and wonder.

Marik nodded. "Absolutely."

Serenity beamed at the both of her companions. "Well, it's your choice," she told the ex-Golem. And that was how two became three.