Mark of the Fool
Chapter 648: Claygon's Path

The massive xyrthak called across the Barrens of Kravernus, its mournful cry striking terror into every creature that heard it.

Roaming through the sun-blasted ground below, muupkaras and gorgers abruptly fled at the sound of its voice and the creature hunting them below.

A dune worm.

The monster swam through the earth, its mouth open, ready to swallow them whole.

Yet the xyrthak was unfazed.

He was king of the sky, after all. What did he have to fear from anything that walked or crawledon the ground in this world?

Soaring past the doomed gorgers and muupkaras, he rode the air currents toward the border of the Barrens. The mana in the air was less potent there, but he would brave it for a chance at his favourite meal.

Humanoids.

The little humanoids from beyond the well-guarded wall were a rare delicacy; it wasn’t often that they left the safety of their green land to enter his domain, and he was not so careless as to fly over the wall and into the path of deadly magic wielders guarding it.

He was a patient beast, and would always wait for those rare individuals who crossed the wall to hunt in the Barrens.

And then he would show them what a true hunter was.

Today, an opportunity had appeared.

Far below, a small group of humanoid adventurers were moving across the Barrens. They were armed and wore garments to protect against the power of the sun, but neither their weapons or other protections would save them from his jaws.

With another cry, he swooped toward his prey.

From his great height in the sky, he would have appeared as a mere dot to those poor-sighted humanoids, perhaps a crow or some other scavenger, until it was much too late for them to save themselves.

His mana destroying call would ruin any magic wielders among them. Next would come his force ray, firing from the lance on his skull just before he drove the lance through their cowering forms, letting the vibrating force grind his prey to paste.

Then, at last, he would feast!

His tongue flicked across his fangs, anticipating his meal.

He swooped closer.

And closer.

Mana surged behind him.

He spun with a cry of alarm at finding a four-armed humanoid hovering above him. The creature was sheathed in metal armour from head to toe, it gleamed in the sunlight.

Worrying energies were gathering in the palm of one of its hands.

The xyrthak roared his challenge, beating his wings and launching toward his challenger.

Why did they always underestimate his might, thinking their puny magic could harm him?

One mana-destroying cry, and he—

Suddenly, a gem in the humanoid’s palm flared so brightly, it blinded the hulking xyrthak. A beam of light erupted.

The xyrthak snarled; his scales were tougher than metal or stone! He welcomed every bit of magic this four-armed creature could throw his way, it was useless, but he was patient. In time, he would be feasting.

Patient or not though, that was the very last thought the xyrthak ever had.

Claygon’schaosbeam struck him full in the chest, breaking flesh and shattering scales. The energies of dungeon core and chaos essence whirled in the gaping wound.

An explosion sparked, turning the sky to every blazing colour of fall.

In an instant, the xyrthak was gone, vapourized, without a single cry.

To the adventurers far below, it appeared as though a second sun had suddenly bloomed in the sky. The thunder caused by the explosion would be the xyrthak’s final legacy in the Barrens of Kravernus.

###

Claygon watched the explosion bloom and fade away. Though the ground was far below, the force of the blast blew the adventurers from their feet as a shockwave kicked up a cloud of dust that choked the air around them.

The golem watched the explosion as it quickly unfolded and died.

He was still not satisfied.

“It is…slow…” Claygon rumbled, his voice that of a tired old man. “I need to…be…faster…to protect…father…but…I cannot…”

The twice-evolved iron golem was strong, he knew that much. His many battles had proved this. He was a little over a year old, and yet he’d fought in more life-and-death struggles than most mortal warriors would experience in a lifetime.

He had fought monsters here in Generasi.

He’d crushed Ravener-spawn in Thameland.

He’d duelled demons in the hells.

And he’d even faced the forces of the hidden church at Uldar’s Rise.

His father had equipped him well; his golem core was strong, and provided boundless energy. A miracle of design. His body was crafted for strength, power and resiliency; he was fast, though not the fastest warrior on the battlefield, but a glancing blow from one of his fists could turn even a bone-charger to red paste.

The war-spear he’d claimed from Zonon-In was an additional weapon in his arsenal, it had the ability to pierce all but the strongest armour and hide, drain the life from most foes, and split demons like ripe fruit.

His fire-gems brought burning death to any enemy that looked to harm his family, and they’d improved since he’d evolved again. Claygon was keen to test his new limits

He, his father and their companions had returned to Generasi just a couple of days ago, and Alex had wasted no time in preparing for what was to come. The golem’s father had been working away in a frenzy in Shale’s workshop, building as many golems as he could. When he wasn’t in the workshop working on golems, he was busy working on expanding the bakery. He wanted everything in place and settled should the church or Thameish monarchy challenge him.

And starting today?

Claygon would be starting new training sessions in the Barrens.

“The Irtyshenan Empire has some of the biggest landmass of any realm on the planet,” Alex had told Claygon when they first set foot in the Barrens earlier. “And I only have one lead to find someone who lived three hundred years ago, and spent their time trying hard not to be found.”

“You will…have to cover…a lot of…distance…” the golem had said.

“Yeah, more than that.” Alex frowned. “Putting teleportation magic in my staff will let me travel long distances, but I can’t rely on a staff or a spell for teleportation.”

“Why…not?” the golem had asked. “Because…it would use…too much mana?”

“That’s part of it.” Alex had raised the aeld staff affectionately. “The staff has a lot of mana, but I want to be able to travel far distances as fast as possible, even if I were to lose it…but just as importantly is the threat of the First Apostle.”

The expression had darkened on Claygon’s father’s face. “I don’t know if he can manage the interdiction he used to cut off spellcastingoutside of Thameland, but—if he can—and he corners me here in Generasi or the Empire, then Hannah’s power is going to be the only weapon I can use against him. And he might already be trying to find a way to counter it.”

His hand had balled into a fist. “I want to train this power until I can cross half the damn empire with a thought. And we also need to test out your new abilities.”

“Why don’t you…practise your teleportation first…father?” Claygon had suggested. “You can…put a flight spell on me...I can do some testing…myself. Then we can do more tests together…later.”

“Good idea! Then we can both be getting stuff done at the same time. I’ll be back.” Alex had cast flight magic on Claygon. “Be careful. I’ll come find you when I’m done.”

Concentrating, the young man had vanished, reappearing in the distance and then disappearing again. His silhouette shrank with each teleportation until Claygon couldn’t see him any longer.

“Training…” Claygon said, looking down at the fire-gem in his right palm. “It helps…father…but training cannot…help me much…”

For all of the golem’s incredible power, he was not like his father.

Alex was a mortal and could expand his mana, strength, and skill by training.

But Claygon was a golem; training would improve his skills, his reactions and his knowledge, but it could not make him stronger. It could not make his mana flow faster. It could not make his fire-beams, or his explosive new chaos fire-beams strike any quicker.

In many ways—he was static.

“But I guess…I should say that I am also lucky…in many ways,” Claygon said. His iron fist clenched. “I began as simple clay…and then became stone…and now I’m iron. I have…grown stronger twice…by my evolutions. Most golems…don’t get that.”

And his latest evolution had grown his abilities to even greater heights.

His iron body was far tougher than his stone one. When he was alone a few days ago, he’d tried driving his war-spear into his arm, but the weapon—which at one time had cut his clay body like it was carving flesh—hadn’t left a scratch.

He was stronger now, he could easily pull a dune worm from the earth and throw it hundreds of feet through the air.

His movements were faster, more precise; he’d become nearly as agile as a human now.

The magic in his fire-gems conducted even faster, and now he could charge their magic with energies from his golem core, mimicking the explosions from joining dungeon core remains and chaos essence.

He was a devastating golem.

And a beautiful one as well.

“You’ve even more beautiful now,” Selina’s eyes had gone big when she saw his new form. Her face had lit up and she’d rubbed his side affectionately. “You’re wonderful, and that hasn’t changed one bit.”

Her reaction had left Clagyon conflicted; he could feel her love and pride in his new form, but her enthusiasm was more muted than it had been when he’d turned from clay to stone.

She hadn’t bounded up to him, all smiles and giggles.

His father’s sister—and Claygon’s co-creator—was changing just as he was, slowly turning into an adult like Alex and his friends.

But as someone who’d evolved twice, he couldn’t help but be happy for her evolution. Still, he did miss parts of those earlier days.

What he didn’t miss was Shale examining him like he was some prized lab specimen.

“This is incredible!” Shale had cried, squinting at him through a pair of magical goggles. “His mana flow’s a tidal wave now! Alex, you have to let me watch some of your field tests with him. You absolutely must!”

At the time, Claygon was very glad that his facial expression couldn’t change; he doubted he would’ve been able to look at the golem crafter with any expression but a scowl.

Even though he’d evolved twice, she still looked at him like a tool rather than a sapient creature. It was something he’d gotten used to, but he preferred not to spend more time around her than was necessary, whether she was father’s business partner and one of his closest allies, or not.

Besides, her treating him like a tool was a painful reminder that he was basically different from his father, or his father’s friends.

And that difference had birthed a fear deep inside him.

He remembered the battle at Uldar’s Rise. It was a terrible day; a lot of people he knew had died—even if he didn't know them well—and he still remembered the terrible force of Uldar’s statues striking his body.

Cracking it.

He could still remember the Third Apostle’s magic boring into him.

Fracturing him.

And he still remembered the might of the First Apostle’s divinely empowered blows hammering his body.

Shattering it.

Even though he’d fought hard, he hadn’t been a match for the evil priest. The First Apostle had been so much faster, and he’d wielded hundreds of years of deadly power and experience against Claygon.

For all of his strength, he might as well have been a small child in the face of the ancient warrior. If Carey hadn’t sacrificed herself and the explosion hadn’t triggered his evolution, there was no doubt he would have been destroyed.

The swarm of statues would have smashed him into gravel, leaving the First Apostle free to kill his father. He would have ‘died’, disgraced, having failed to do what he’d been initially created for—protecting life.

It would have made a mockery of his entire existence.

“I must get more powerful…” the golem said. “We will face…dangers in the Empire…and danger from the First Apostle again…and from the Ravener itself…”

They would all be fierce opponents.

Without doubt, his iron body was strong—perhaps stronger than any other golem in the world—but would that be enough? Would training his skill truly be enough to let him face any opponent on any battlefield, and protect his father?

What if he came across an opponent more experienced, faster or stronger than he was?

“Twice I have evolved in battle…and saved father…” the golem said. “But…no golem has evolved past iron…I cannot count on evolving anymore…what can I do…?”

Claygon paused.

No golem had evolved past iron that he knew of.

But, was he like other golems?

No.

His father had built him to be more powerful.

His father had built him to think faster.

His father had built him to be unique.

And if he was unique…then…

“...could I find another evolution? An evolution…completely my own?” Claygon wondered. “Not simply clay…stone or iron…a different material. Something better….something unique…like me.”

The golem stared up at the sky and knew then what he wanted.

“Yes…another evolution. One of my own…I will find it.”