"Aerysin." Ryker whispered, outstretching his hand. On his command, the wind obeyed. As though it tore itself from the ether like a fabric, the gale of wind Ryker summoned whipped violently before his fingers and arced into an almost-spinning blade.
The entirety of the ruins fell silent as Ryker could detect the massive egg acknowledging his presence. It thrummed with power, the egg's shell scrawling with purple hieroglyphs that pulsed to the rhythm of a beating heart. His ancestor's magicks - Ancient Helikath - were unmistakable to the eye.
Only then did Ryker hear it.
A deep, labored breathing from the rift itself. The sky rippled—then relaxed like a dying heart beating its last.
How lovely. Not ominous at all...
He sucked in a heavy breath, checking that the sickly pulse wasn't his own. "Okay. Let's do this."
"Cleave!" Ryker's fingers controlling his magic stiffened along the palm, his wind blade shooting forward. It tore through the sky with a sickening high-pitched whistle towards the egg.
It never got there.
The egg pulsed once—engulfing the runes in violent purple flames.
The ground beneath him moaned and then—
—stone erupted from the floor snatching Ryker's spell out of the air like an insect. The mass smashed down into the ground mangling itself only to reform into a collage of boulders.
Another pulse.
The ground trembled, dust exploding everywhere as an angry mountain birthed from the very ground of the rift dimension itself - slabs of stone kissed with traces of chaotic magics all rushing together.
The stone slabs locked into place with a disjointed rhythm.
A massive, humanoid figure cast a large shadow across the ground. Instinctively, Ryker took two paces back.
Then… it twitched.
The beast straightened its back as dozens of smooth pillars ground each other down into jagged puzzle pieces.
Its legs were wider than a bus and taller than a house, while its arms were even larger. "Holy..." Ryker mouthed, breathless.
Through the cracks of the golem's body, a prominent glow pulsed in unison with the beat of the egg it guarded.
Ryker's fingers twitched anxiously as its glowing purple eye sockets locked onto him.
Its roar made the rift itself tremble.
"Dammit!" he clasped his hands together, mana coursing through his fingers. "Aerysin—"
Ryker's stomach dropped.
His footing gave way.
Eight jagged spikes the size of his torso erupted from the earth beneath him. "--Aethe!" A thin pocket of wind mana burst open, rocketing him skyward.
His feet found land on a pillar that'd been launched up with him. "Aerysin!" before the spikes could cover half the distance to him-
GONE
"--Cleave!"
The spell smashed into the broadside of the mass of spikes, hissing and then popping.
Nothing. Not even a chip.
"Tch, typical." Upon landing, his feet slide across the grimy, moss infested ground to a grinding halt
The beast replied with a wide swing. Its pillar of a forearm swiped across the ancient battlefield, devastating everything in its path.
Ryker hit the ground just low enough, his boots sliding across mossy stone.
"Tervor—" rubble and torrent swept past him, dragging at his frame. Pebbles amassed beneath his fingers, interlocking into his own Tervor spike.
No. Save it. A weak cyclone of wind formed instead, launching the stone bullets.
Two chips on the jaw.
Its abdomen glowed brightly.
Gone. replaced by smooth rock.
"Gotcha! You showed your cards asshole!"
He stamped his heel, webbing the ground with deep cracks. "Aethe!" Air exploded beneath his heels yet again, launching him sideways toward the beast.
It responded—redirecting its sweeping arm back around into a downward arc. He threaded the needle, kicked his foot out and launched upward again into the beast's elbow. "Aethe!"
He hit in a tight spin, heel first, hundreds of RPMs collided into one singular point. Boulders made like glass as he bashed through. An ear piercing howl chased him.
Real damage. Finally.
The Earth beneath Ryker reached for the sky, tearing through grime and dirt as the thorny masses of ruins chased him. He arched back, thrusting himself back into a chain of rolls and leaps.
Catching his breath, he mumbled, "Prick is wringing me out. I can't keep wasting mana like this or I'll run dry before he's even warmed up."
His legs flexed, the rubble beneath him whining.
I can't take a head on hit from this thing. No way I'll survive.
He leapt right, barely grazed by a blindly swinging pillar. A thin stream of blood sprayed from his calf.
Ignore it, Ryker! You're fine!
Pillars burst upward in a messy ring around him, stone teeth snapping for his legs. Ryker jumped on instinct, barely clearing the first row before a second wave ripped through the ground.
His body contorted fluidly, threading through several spikes. He whipped his torso back upright, kicked his legs out shattering the spikes into grains of sand and soil.
One more. Above!
He spun around, smashing his shin through a colossal fist. The energy of the clash obliterated the hand and smashed Ryker back down into dirt.
The impact made his vision flash white, blurry shapes fading in and out of existence.
His mouth trickled a warm sensation down both of his cheeks.
His heart wanted to jump out of his throat when he sloppily wiped blood from his face.
Hurry up...kill this fucking thing you pitiful sack of shit.
Ryker pulled his legs in, rolling back into a crouch. "I cannot afford to do that again. Never again." He smacked himself across the cheek.
Blinking back to his senses he noticed the Golem had found itself in a similar condition. Cracks ran up the beast's arms and the earlier glow seemed much fainter.
"Running on fumes too, eh? It must take a ton of mana to heal that big ol' body of yours!"
Shit I really wish Hera taught me healing magic! I still gotta fight that Basalt Mauler!
He shook his head, bringing himself to his feet. "No! This is not time to get nervous. You're getting into RUMCA no matter what!"
"Come on! Patch it up! You can do it can't you?!" He bound forward, the ground cracking beneath each powerful stride.
The golem's massive arms imploded inward, collapsing into themselves before erupting outward as a wall of stabbing pillars. The whole plaza bristled with jagged stone.
Razor thin cuts riddled his arms, legs and neck—streaks of blood trailing in the wake of his every move.
He forced his fist up under the head of the final pillar pulverizing it. A white hot pain ripped through his arms.
The beast pressed on, stone shrieking as the light in its abdomen faded into a dying flicker.
"You're done!"
His legs burst with emerald tinted magic.
"Aerysin, Aethe!"
The ground beneath him ripped around as the air pocket ruptured, hurling him straight ahead, twisting to slam both feet into the beast's chest plate, the impact like a thunderclap through the rift.
The recoil tossed him into a collapsing pillar.
No hesitation.
Not a thought.
"Aethe!" His frame snapped upright, slamming chest first into the flickering abdomen.
Both the creature's legs exploded, the remains clasping together at its shoulder into a makeshift arm.
No time.
Ryker's hand pierced through armor into the beating crystal heart. "AGAIN! AETHE!"
Cracks raced to the glassy surface then—
—BOOM
Ryker's body careened into a pile of rubble.
The Ruined Golem's agonized howls cut short.
Silence…
A battered Ryker stirred heavily with his battle to stay conscious, spitting both stone and blood from his mouth.
His vision was milk, no surface stone near him making any sense for his brain.
His gaze lowered to his mangled body - sharp rocks had torn through his pants and even pierced his flesh to expose the bleeding pink underneath.
Color washed from his face as his eyes soon rolled back, adrenaline ceasing so unmoored pain could wash over him in a sort of immolation. His throat rasped, he spat more blood and dirt into the ground.
His mana, all but gone. He was dying. His first assignment was his own demise.
The pain soon dulled into a blistering cold.
…
A faint purple light suddenly caught his attention.
The golem's heart lay there, pulsing its last throes.
Ryker's eyes widened in shock.
It's heart. I can still use it. I can still save myself.