Chapter 37: The Core

  Corin was now back on the ground. He was nearing the tall spire. The trees had brought him close and were creating a diversion to attract the golems that guarded the spire.

  But as Corin approached, there was the smallest hint of a shadow out of the corner of his eye.

  Instinctively Corin jumped back.

  THUNK! THUNK!

  Two clay spears skewered the ground Corin had been standing on. He looked at their source. A golem, larger than the one he had seen previously.

  This must mean I'm getting close.

  It stood on two legs, but it had no arms. From its core Corin could see more spikes begin to form.

  “Not this again!” Corin muttered.

  He jumped out of the way.

  THUNK!

  Corin reached for his pistol but hesitated.

  Only one shot. I have to save it.

  The creature’s body protruded more spikes. Corin ran towards it. As soon as the creature's body twitched Corin sidestepped. The spear flew past him. He got near the golem and thrust his blade straight at the creature. Corin put all his strength into his blade.

  He plunged it into the beast, with half of the blade going into the creature's heart. Still the creature persisted. The clay around the creature pulsated in an unnatural manner. Corin could tell it was trying to reconstitute itself and was struggling against his attack. A spike slowly formed aimed right at Corin, but as Corin saw this he pushed into the blade. This interrupted the creature’s attempt to defend itself. Corin kept pushing, hitting the hilt of his blade to drive it into the creature's heart. Slowly the blade kept making its way deeper.

  Just die already!

  “He's here!” A voice cried overhead.

  Corin quickly recognized the voice. The sudden action distracted Corin who loosened his grip for a mere fraction of a moment. The creature formed a new spike.

  “Move!” Another voice called out.

  Corin followed Nanaua's command. He knew exactly where her strike would come from.

  Corin saw Nanaua bringing down her pike across the creature's body and shattering it.

  Corin grabbed his blade amongst the remains.

  “You're nearly at the tower! Follow me!” Kadus yelled overhead.

  Corin and Nanaua ran following Kadus.

  “You know, had you shown up only a moment later that creature would have been dead.” Corin shouted as they ran.

  “I do not doubt your martial prowess my friend.” Nanaua said.

  Corin looked at her and could see the faintest grin.

  “I was so close to winning that fight I'll have you know! And that was the second one I faced today! I won the other fight!” Corin added.

  “That is the sixth one I've destroyed.” Nanaua shouted. She smiled at Corin as she said this.

  Corin could tell that despite the danger of the situation, Nanaua was enjoying this opportunity to express herself through her weapon. Everything else they accomplished was an added bonus.

  After passing some downed trees Corin could finally see the base of the spire.

  “The trees are occupied with the other beasts, now is your chance!” Kadus yelled.

  Corin and Nanaua sprinted to the base. They saw an opening and ran to it. When they were ten paces from the entrance a large golem sprouted from the ground. The largest Corin had seen so far.

  “Go in!” Nanaua yelled. “I'll be in after I deal with this mud beast!”

  Without waiting for Corin to respond Nanaua attacked the creature. As Corin looked at her all he could see was a large smile upon her face.

  He ran into the spire. Inside the hollowed out spire there was a large metal statue in the center. The upper half of it had been broken off. If there had been any relics in the past here they were long gone. Corin looked up. The only thing in the hollowed spire was a large spiral staircase that led to the top.

  Damn! So many damn stairs! Why couldn't the heart be at the bottom?

  But he had no choice. He ran to the staircase and dashed up the steps. On the walls of the spire he could see various etchings and different artifacts affixed to it. He continued running until he noticed something on the wall move. A spider-like golem jumped right at Corin.

  He slashed at the creature, catching it mid air with his blade and shattering its heart into a cascade of green stones. Corin heard a growl and looked behind. From below he could see more of the golems coming up the walls.

  “Do! Not! Stop!” Nanaua yelled at him from below.

  Corin obliged, continuing his mad dash. Corin looked up. He could see the end now. He was about three quarters of the way up when Corin felt the ground tremble. He looked through a small hole on the side of the spire.

  He saw a large figure rising from the ground outside.

  “Bellum? Again!” Corin shouted.

  ***

  Just a few moments earlier Bellum had finally finished reconstituting himself in front of Zhi, Livia and Simeon.

  “Now that there are trees around both of his feet he will have a much harder time to move around!” Livia shouted.

  Bellum had been ensnared by the trees as he regained his body mass. Once he was complete he attempted to move. He brought up one of his massive legs, but the tightly coiled trees around his feet kept him in place.

  More growls came from beneath them.

  Simeon kept shooting arrows at the golems.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “These creatures do not stop!” He shouted.

  He took a quick look over to Bellum.

  “Is he trapped?” He asked.

  “It seems that way!” Livia shouted back.

  As she said that Bellum continued thrashing trying to break free from the trees that shackled him.

  “Zhi is there anything you can do to slow him down!” Livia asked.

  “I can try!” Zhi shouted.

  She whispered softly and a large cloud formed above her. The cloud grew in size and got darker.

  Livia breathed out and could see her breath condensate.

  Zhi kept whispering and the cloud kept growing. The cloud moved toward Bellum slowly. As it approached him a strong flurry of snow fell on Bellum's upper body. Ice grew thick on his body, slowing his movements.

  “Yprum the shackles are working! Keep at it!” Livia shouted.

  The ice on Bellum grew. He seemed to slow down until he completely stopped.

  “What's going on?” Livia shouted.

  All of them looked at the Giant.

  “Could it be that he's frozen in place?” Simeon asked.

  Suddenly Bellum began breaking apart. Large portions of the Giant's body crumbled and smashed into the ground.

  “What is it doing?” Zhi asked, her voice sounding weak now.

  He's reforming.

  “What?!” Livia shouted.

  But Yprum was correct.

  As the last vestiges of Bellum's crumbling body disappeared, a new formation appeared.

  Erupting from the ground, Bellum reappeared in front of them.

  Towering over the group he roared into the sky, howling in rage at those who would challenge him. He was reformed and prepared to continue his rampage.

  He lifted another massive rock and sent it flying towards the group.

  As it grew near them Zhi uttered an incantation.

  The boulder broke apart but this time the debris was large. The flying rocks hit the group hard, one of them nearly toppling Simeon over.

  “I'm fine!” He screamed as he was dangling from a vine wrapped around his foot.

  Livia looked at Zhi. It was taking everything within her to be able to even stand at this point.

  “Yprum are we able to tie him up again?” Livia shouted.

  As if responding to Livia, Bellum roared and his body changed. From his midsection multiple legs sprouted and now he resembled a giant clay spider.

  In this form it will be much harder to hold Bellum down.

  “Argh! Damn it!” Livia shouted.

  The spider like Bellum did not hesitate. He rushed toward the trio incredibly fast. The trees were able to move and evade Bellum but they could already see him getting ready for another charge.

  Livia could barely hang onto the tree. Zhi swayed from side to side as the trees held her in place.

  “I'll draw it's attention!” Simeon shouted.

  “What?” Livia shouted back.

  “Guide me to him!” Simeon shouted to the tree.

  Simeon fired arrows at the massive clay creature. The tree he was underneath followed his command, bringing Simeon close to the gigantic spider.

  “Simeon!” Livia shouted.

  “Get away from here!” He shouted back. “Take Zhi and find Corin and Nanaua! Now!”

  Livia hesitated but followed his order.

  “Come let us go toward the spire!” Livia shouted.

  From behind she could hear Bellum roar. He was about to charge at Simeon. She could not look, but waited to hear the inevitable sound of the Giant crushing Simeon, her friend. The trees took her and Zhi toward the spire.

  She waited. And waited.

  Livia turned to look and where there was a Giant spider several moments ago, there was nothing. Simeon could be seen in the distance on the tree.

  “Wait!” Livia shouted. “What happened?”

  “He disappeared!” Simeon replied. “Bellum was about to rush at me, but he just crumbled!”

  Livia was at a loss for words. Was he about to ambush them?

  She looked around her, but she saw no sign of the Giant reappearing.

  “Where did it go?” Zhi weakly asked.

  We have regained contact with the other trees. Your friends made it into the spire.

  “Did they destroy the heart?” Simeon asked.

  Bellum has appeared near the tower.

  ***

  “Do! Not! Stop!” Nanaua shouted at Corin again.

  He had been distracted for only a split second while he saw Bellum begin to appear from out of the ground.

  Corin ran again. He knew that his time was running out. Running up the stairs, Corin saw two of the clay golems ahead for him. He would not be able to go around them. Nearing them he went on the outside edge of the staircase. The first one to attack Corin lunged at him full force attempting to grab Corin and fall with him to their combined deaths.

  Corin slashed at the creature's outstretched limbs, cutting them, and kicked the creature over the stair.

  “Only you now!” Corin yelled at the other golem.

  The golem yelled. Behind him two spiderlike golems crawled down the wall.

  “Damn it Corin! Stay quiet next time!” He chastised himself.

  The golems learned from their falling comrade and clay spikes appeared on their bodies.

  As they prepared to shoot at him the ground shook. Corin was close to falling over the staircase. The golems shot at Corin while he was wobbling and he ducked down. The shaking made the golems miss by a wide margin.

  As Corin ran up to the standing golem, the golem’s body exploded and Corin saw a spray of black stones. With no hesitation Nanaua thrust at the two spider golems on the wall, who attempted to retreat the furious onslaught with no success.

  “Than-” Corin began but Nanaua had grabbed him and continued running.

  “Almost at the top!” She shouted.

  Corin looked outside and saw Bellum put his hands on the ground. Mud was coming out of his hands and Corin looked at the base of the spire.

  At the bottom mud filled the base of the spire at a blistering speed.

  “Ahead Corin! Look ahead!” Nanaua shouted.

  Ahead of them he saw the end of the staircase. It led to a floor at the very top of the spire. Right in front of the end there were two massive golems waiting for them.

  Nanaua ran ahead of Corin once more.

  “Do not stop!” She shouted.

  Nanaua yelled as she swung her pike at one of the golems' legs, cutting them off and slashing at the other through the midsection. Corin did as she commanded.

  He was finally there. At the top of the spire.

  At the top there were no walls, and Corin could see all around him and the rest of the Serno Valley.

  In the center of this open room Corin saw it. A massive green gem, about as large as his home situated in the middle of the room. The green gem pulsated a continuous light, a sign that it was active. Above the massive stone Corin saw something else. A glass case with a stone sphere. Much, much smaller than the Giant's heart and easy to miss.

  Bellum's head appeared over the edge of the tower. The Giant's featureless head was facing right at Corin.

  Corin reacted quickly, pulling out his pistol and shooting at the large heart. His shot hit dead center in the heart. The light inside the heart flickered at a furious pace and Bellum howled in agony. His bullet traveled deep inside the heart and became embedded in it. Various fissures around the hole the bullet dug through the heart flared out.

  “I've done it! I've killed a Giant!” Corin cried out.

  But the cracks in the heart stopped. The irregular frantic light slowed down and Corin saw Bellum regain his composure.

  “Damn it Corin! Keep your mouth shut!” He scolded himself once again.

  Without hesitation he ran to the massive stone and began smashing it with his blade. Every time his blade would impact the heart small green shards would shoot out, but the damage Corin was doing was minimal.

  Bellum yelled once more but this time he was not paralyzed by pain. He grabbed the top of the spire and ripped it off. As he did so the artifact fell onto the ground right next to Corin.

  “Corin what are you waiting for!?” Nanaua screamed at him.

  “I'm trying!” He yelled in response as he thrust his blade into the heart. The blade dug into the heart and Corin was able to lodge half of it within it. Bellum cried in pain as Corin stabbed his heart but he could not plunge the blade deeper.

  Corin tried to force the blade out but he could not. It was stuck within the heart.

  “Damn it Corin!” Nanaua yelled. “Argh!”

  Corin looked over. Nanaua had blood running down her right arm and she was facing three of the small golems now.

  “Nanaua!” Corin said as he ran.

  “Stay!” She ordered him.

  “But my weapon!” He replied.

  “Here!” She shouted.

  First she swung at one of the golems cleaving him in two and shattering his heart. Then she hit another with the blunt end of her weapon pushing it against the other.

  She quickly turned around and threw her weapon at Corin.

  “Don't get this one stuck!” She shouted at him.

  He caught the massive weapon, almost being crushed by it.

  “But what about you?” He cried out.

  She did not reply with words. She went and tore at the golems with her bare hands. She punched one in the center stunning it and grabbed the other one and threw it over the side of the spire.

  Corin turned around to hit the heart with the pike.

  He heard a yell overhead, he saw Bellum's large mallet like fist being raised high into the air.

  Not enough time!

  “Don't you worry about this one!” Kadus yelled. He swooped in front of Bellum's face distracting the Giant. Spikes formed from Bellum's face and shot out at Kadus.

  Thank you, Kadus!

  Corin had to use his entire body to swing the massive pike. He smashed the heart. A large chunk broke off. The pulsing light within the heart weakened. Bellum yelled in pain.

  Corin continued, hitting the heart multiple times, each time breaking off a part. He could see that he was having an effect on it, but he was not doing enough damage. The heart was too large.

  “Argh!” Kadus yelled as he was smacked and knocked down on the ground.

  Corin saw him hit the floor and bounce off it. The sparrowling lay prone on the ground.

  “Kadus!” Corin yelled.

  As he ran to the sparrowling a Giant clay fist punched the ground between them.

  Corin tumbled as he backed away from the fist. As he tumbled he hit something hard.

  He turned back and saw his blade sticking out of the Giant's heart.

  That's it!

  Corin swung at the blade with the pike. His first hit drove the blade deeper into the heart.

  Bellum yelled in pain, and the ground shook. It seemed as if Bellum would take the entire spire down with him.

  Corin stabilized himself and hit his blade once more. It drove deeper, creating cracks on the surface that spread. The cracks spread deep into the heart and connected with the cracks from the bullet.

  The spire shook once more. This time Corin fell. As he struggled to get up he looked up. He saw the Giant's massive fist floating just above where Corin was. But Bellum did not follow through.

  Corin did not hesitate. He stood up and hammered in his blade one last time. This time the blade pushed all the way into the heart, spreading cracks through the entire large stone.

  “AAARGH!” Bellum screamed in pain.

  The cracks spread throughout the entirety of the heart. The light within it pulsated faster and faster. It kept speeding up until suddenly the light stopped. The heart exploded, sending green shards all around.

  Bellum’s agony had ceased. They had killed a Titan.