DwightEisenhower: Thanks for understanding. Glad to hear you're still enjoying the series.
Dran: Yeah, it's mostly the motivation problems. I might take a longer break later on. I appreciate the advice.
Chapter twenty-two: Guardians
Using the hammerhead, Jack shattered another mini-cube with a well-aimed strike. He leaped past the remaining two and struck the mother cube's red eye.
As if stunned, the Slider flinched back. More of its smaller counterparts emerged from its sides. Jack spun around and swung blindly, hitting and damaging one of the mini-cubes, then jumped to the side and against the wall.
He faced down three mini-cubes. Every time he destroyed one, the Slider created more. How many did it have stored up? Slow as they were, he couldn't afford to take risks, lest he be crushed against the wall or the ground. He wasn't sure for how long Gravitite could protect him from that.
He backed away a little to catch his breath. He wasn't that tired; just winded. If he timed his moves right, he could beat this thing eventually.
The legless humanoid-shaped machine moved from its position, floating and moving closer, its red glare fixed on the Valkyries. Brigul leveled her sword at it while Skotur kept her focus on the Eye With The Cogs. How many gears were left? Brigul considered sparing a glance, but remained focused on the floating golem instead.
Both security devices remained frozen for a moment.
Then the golem moved, swooping down with a raised fist. At the same time, the Eye released some of its gears.
Brigul flew up and to the side by reflex. A glance told her that Skotur had done the same, but had moved to the very other side of the room, splitting them up.
Brigul ducked under a cog that flew her way. She swung her sword in a vain attempt to break it.
The eye glared down, as if taunting her.
Meanwhile, the golem had turned its attention to Skotur.
The Slider slowly floated upwards. Jack leaped to the wall and landed with his feet. He immediately jumped again, this time towards the mother cube. He roughly landed on top of it.
It ceased its ascent. Jack took that moment to raise his poleaxe and slam the hammerhead against the cube's side, where its red eye was located. His clumsy strike missed by several inches, hitting the channels of light instead.
He heard mechanical whirring—the sound it made when it released more mini-cubes. Not wanting to take risks, Jack jumped off, destroying a nearby mini-cube when he landed.
He turned to the mother cube to see a crack where he'd hit it. Some of the channels of light were flickering; others had faded altogether. He hadn't hit the eye directly, but the damage was there.
He could do this. He could…
Skotur found herself facing the second of the two guardians they'd met. The floating golem. It had no legs, but that wasn't a disadvantage.
Skotur glanced to Brigul at the other side of the room. They shouldn't be this far apart. If—
The golem attacked. She was just able to leap back with a flap of her wings. She raised her spear on instinct, but paused. A blunt force weapon would probably work best against this thing.
She glanced at Brigul.
Another jump. Another strike. This time Jack hit the thing right in the eye. It let out a mechanical grunt, as if in pain. Its eye flashed.
Jack jumped off and backed away.
This is supposed to be the guardian of this place? he questioned, glancing at the Slider. If this was going to be his greatest challenge, they might as well have handed him the map on a silver platter.
Stepping back to maintain some distance, Jack swung his weapon at two approaching mini-cubes. They were reduced to dust before long.
Brigul deflected another cog coming her way. It backed off, trembling, as if dazed. Then it returned to the central Eye.
She glanced up at it. Each time she tried to strike the Eye directly, the gears protected it. She just needed to destroy them first, but that was going to take a long time; the Eye seemed more careful in using its weapons than before. Had it learned?
"Brigul!"
She gave a glance to see Skotur slamming her shield into the golem's chest, then flying over and landing at her side. Skotur leveled her spear at the Eye.
"Focus on the golem," Skotur ordered. "Use blunt force. I'll take the Eye."
Not questioning it, Brigul glanced at the golem in question. Her eye was drawn to the luminous gem in its chest. She switched her grip on the sword, holding the blade with both hands, preparing to strike with the hilt. The Eye had been too fast to defend itself whenever she attacked, but this thing moved more slowly and didn't have the same kind of weapons.
A smirk crept on her face. This was the kind of fight she was looking for.
The golem advanced, raising its bare fists. Brigul prepared to meet him halfway.
Jack destroyed another mini-cube. He turned to the Slider again—it had ascended higher and higher during the fight, and now almost touched the ceiling. Jack paused; then, applying just enough force to get the right altitude, he jumped and struck.
Not a direct hit, but he did break more of those channels. The cube, cracked under Jack's continuous onslaught, grunted and sent out more of its smaller counterparts. Jack disposed of them easily, and he resumed his assault against the mother cube.
That was a direct hit. More mini-cubes, no more dangerous than their predecessors, walked right into their mechanical deaths.
It had become a simple routine; strike the mother cube, get rid of the new mini-cubes, rinse and repeat. Security device or not, the Slider was still just a machine, and Jack had since adapted to its fighting patterns.
One more jump. One more strike. A lucky hit.
The hammerhead landed directly on the eye, shattering it and causing it to flicker.
Jack leaped back and observed.
The Slider let out a mechanical grunt. It shook, then fell and crashed on the ground, its red light extinguished. The room was dark once again.
Jack panted, keeping his eye on the silhouette of the now-motionless mother cube. He'd beaten it. He took a moment to let his eyes adjust to the darkness again. He considered raising his visor for some fresh air, but decided against it, just to be safe.
Then he looked to the double door above—the one with the two blue symbols on it.
The map. He had to get the map.
Brigul slammed the guard of her sword against the golem's head. The thing whirled around and struck at her in retaliation.
The hit sent her off-balance. She hit the wall and fell down, dazed.
Pained, she glanced up. The golem glared back, its red gaze damaged. Flickering.
Brigul just barely ducked away from a strike. Getting to her feet shakily, she rolled under another attack, spun around and swung her sword again.
The crossguard buried itself into the gem that rested in the golem's chest, breaking it.
The golem froze.
Then it fell, its light dimming.
Brigul kept an eye on the corpse for a moment to ensure it was really gone. Then she turned to Skotur and the Eye to see that the latter only had two cogs left. Gripping her weapon tightly, Brigul moved to join the fight.
Soon, the Eye's light was extinguished as well.
The door was still closed.
Jack kicked it. He tried to pry it open—first with his hands, then with the spike on his poleaxe. Nothing worked.
He stepped back. "Fuck!" he growled. That golem thing he'd seen earlier must be a part of this. He would have to go back and fight that too, before—
The symbols on the doors turned red. Jack paused.
Then the doors started to slide open.
Relief and triumph washed over him. He'd done it! A grin began to grow on his face.
Then all of that was gone. In the middle of the room beyond sat another cube. A bigger one.
As soon as the doors were fully open, the cube shifted. Hatches on its sides opened, revealing blue eye-like lights. They turned red almost immediately, and the cube levitated off its stand and shot towards him like a bullet.
Jack leaped to the side. The cube all but flew out of the room. It abruptly stopped in mid-air, then redirected its course towards Jack.
Jack Gravitite-jumped away and raised his weapon.
Fuck.
That thing he'd just beaten wasn't the Slider. This was.